v Fulham (a) - 5/3/22

[alcd]

51 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Fair enough comment.

With the expected departures they'll have to pull a lot of rabbits out of a small hat to match this season. The BBD money will be trousered to cover the training ground exchange imo.

The training ground transfer did not cost Venkys a penny. It was an accounting exercise that simply passed ownership from one Venkys company to another. 

[yankfan]

21 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

It doesn’t matter what other teams are doing if we can’t win our share of games.

And it’s hard to win if you can’t score. 

[chaddyrovers]

I thought the first half we were outclassed by them and we were poor. 

Second half we upped our tempo and press better from the front. Might have been different game had Gallagher goal not be offside and Giles had scored with his 2 efforts. 

Anyway we now move on and look forward to the next 11 games which we must secure a playoff place as minimum. Its vital now we take a minimum off 7 points from our next 3 games which are all at home. So lets win against Millwall now

Results went for us today in the mainly. onwards and upwards Rovers. 

[alcd]

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

I thought the first half we were outclassed by them and we were poor. 

Second half we upped our tempo and press better from the front. Might have been different game had Gallagher goal not be offside and Giles had scored with his 2 efforts. 

Anyway we now move on and look forward to the next 11 games which we must secure a playoff place as minimum. Its vital now we take a minimum off 7 points from our next 3 games which are all at home. So lets win against Millwall now

Results went for us today in the mainly. onwards and upwards Rovers. 

And it would have been a much worse scoreline if the two second half efforts that hit the frame had gone in......Can't rely on other teams dropping points. About 77 will be needed and that's 6 wins for a team that couldn't score in a brothel.

[chaddyrovers]

57 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

At the other end, @chaddyrovers was very keen to suggest that others would step up upon Breretons absence, that is clearly not happening. Khadra is very inconsistent, Dolan all energy but little goal threat or creativity, Giles perhaps better from wing back and has been guilty of poor decisions, Hedges unfancied and not prolific himself and Gallagher so limited yet probably our biggest goal threat despite his lack of striking instinct, so that is saying something. The midfielders and defenders aren't chipping in either which considering their own respective goal histories isnt a big surprise. We need both Dack on the bench and Brereton back fit ASAP, although it might be too little too late.

We have to accumulate some points at Ewood in the next 10 days.

We have been through a tough patch of results just like every team does. QPR are going a similar one and in our game last week against them we outplayed them in the main. Fulham and Bournemouth went through similar patches earlier in the season. 

I am worried by today's defeat? no not at all given Fulham quality squad and the wage bill there should be bossing this league and winning this league. 

We now have 3 home games in a week to put points on the total and go towards securing our playoff place as a minimum 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I don’t mind losing if we play well but that was dog shit. This is going to be a post Lowenbrau fuelled rant. We looked like a pub team at times. Fulham were always in space, plenty of easy first time passing. Tosin could wear that kit for the next game, no need to wash it, he never broke sweat. We needed two touches most of the time. Playing a left back on the right wing was a new one on me but you live and learn. Giles must be the most left footed left footer at the club. A pro footballer and his right foot is for standing on. Pickering’s no better, he’s another one footed wonder. What is it about left footed players ? Why are they all so one footed ?

I like Van Hecke but he got told his fortune today. First he tracks their striker into midfield and gets no where near the ball, bit of a theme there today, then he gets back to cover but makes a complete balls up of an header my mum could have put into touch.  After than Kaminski fumbles a “ shot “ he could have stopped by throwing his cap on it normally. He chose our biggest game to have his worst game of the season. I thought he was at fault for the second as well , he came, went back, then came again. Too late. Their guy showed our two of Khadra and Buckley how you put away a close up chance by simply getting his toe under the ball.

After that Fulham went into third gear and waited for 2-30 pm. Game over, damage limitation time.

I could say “ a game lost in team selection”: It was nonsensical and the sooner the guy who chose it is gone the better.

Kaminski 4 . Lost us what slight chance we had of winning the game.

ZeFuik 4. Get on the treatment table next to the ginger bread man. Do we do fitness tests or do we just say “ Feeling ok today ?”

Lenihan 6. Did his best but got a card when the game was gone. You’ve got to question what goes on in his head , he’s the bloody captain ffs.

Van Hecke 5. All at sea today , he got a football lesson from their No 9. Having said that he never gave up and his head never went down. He’ll be a better player for today’s game.

Wharton 5. Got pulled into midfield for their second goal. Other than that deeply ordinary.

Pickering 4. People were telling me - “ Wait while we get Pickering back, we’ve really missed him”.  Really ? He looked like he was running in treacle most of the time. 

Giles 5. How is it Kenny never played Graham LeSaux on the right wing. He might has been a smash out there. Obviously Tony is smarter. This guy hasn’t impressed me so far.

Travis 6. Usual Trav performance without the obligatory booking.

Johnson 5. We could do to buy him some roller skates to help him around the pitch. Playing both him and Trav = no creativity in the centre of the pitch. But we knew that.

Khadra 4 .Like a dog chasing a paper bag on a car park on a windy day.

Dolan 5. Tried hard as per usual but not much end product. Unlucky to be carded when Metrovic should have two cards.

JRC 5. If he’s a right back I need to get my boots down out of the loft. Having said that I’ve seen him play worse.

Gallagher 6 . At least he looked like he wanted to be out there. Unlucky with the “ goal “.

Rothwell 6. Looked like a footballer when he came on. That’s a plus in my book.
 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[J*B]

8 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I don’t mind losing if we play well but that was dog shit. This is going to be a post Lowenbrau fuelled rant. We looked like a pub team at times. Fulham were always in space, plenty of easy first time passing. Tosin could wear that kit for the next game, no need to wash it, he never broke sweat. We needed two touches most of the time. Playing a left back on the right wing was a new one on me but you live and learn. Giles must be the most left footed left footer at the club. A pro footballer and his right foot is for standing on. Pickering’s no better, he’s another one footed wonder. What is it about left footed players ? Why are they all so one footed ?

I like Van Hecke but he got told his fortune today. First he tracks their striker into midfield and gets no where near the ball, bit of a theme there today, then he gets back to cover but makes a complete balls up of an header my mum could have put into touch.  After than Kaminski fumbles a “ shot “ he could have stopped by throwing his cap on it normally. He chose our biggest game to have his worst game of the season. I thought he was at fault for the second as well , he came, went back, then came again. Too late. Their guy showed our two of Khadra and Buckley how you put away a close up chances by simply getting his toe under the ball.

After that Fulham went into third gear and waited for 2-30 pm. Game over, damage limitation time.

I could say “ a game lost in team selection”: It was nonsensical and the sooner the guy who chose it is gone the better.

Kaminski 4 . Lost us what slight chance we had of winning the game.

ZeFuik 4. Get on the treatment table next to the ginger bread man. Do we do fitness tests or do we just say “ Feeling ok today ?”

Lenihan 6. Did his best but got a card when the game was gone. You’ve got to question what goes on in his head , he’s the bloody captain ffs.

Van Hecke 5. All at sea today , he got a football lesson from their No 9. Having said that he never gave up and his head never went down. He’ll be a better player for today’s game.

Wharton 5. Got pulled into midfield for their second goal. Other than that deeply ordinary.

Pickering 4. People were telling me - “ Wait while we get Pickering back, we’ve really missed him”.  Really ? He looked like he was running in treacle most of the time. 

Giles 5. How is it Kenny never played Graham LeSaux on the right wing. He might has been a smash out there. Obviously Tony is smarter. This guy hasn’t impressed me so far.

Travis 6. Usual Trav performance without the obligatory booking.

Johnson 5. We could do to buy him some roller skates to help him around the pitch. Playing both him and Trav = no creativity in the centre of the pitch. But we knew that.

Khadra 4 .Like a dog chasing a paper bag on a car park on a windy day.

Dolan 5. Tried hard as per usual but not much end product. Unlucky to be cared when Metrovic should have two cards.

JRC 5. If he’s a right back I need to get my boots down out of the loft. Having said that I’ve seen him play worse.

Gallagher 6 . At least he looked like he wanted to be out there. Unlucky with the “ goal “.

Rothwell 6. Looked like a footballer when he came on. That’s a plus in my book.
 

If, like Tyrone, giving ratings is your bag please support BRFCS and do your official ratings here: https://www.brfcs.com/magazine/football/match/717218/fulham-blackburn

[roversfan99]

15 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

We have been through a tough patch of results just like every team does. QPR are going a similar one and in our game last week against them we outplayed them in the main. Fulham and Bournemouth went through similar patches earlier in the season. 

I am worried by today's defeat? no not at all given Fulham quality squad and the wage bill there should be bossing this league and winning this league. 

We now have 3 home games in a week to put points on the total and go towards securing our playoff place as a minimum 

Of course teams go through runs of good and bad form, but its very flippant to just put it down as one of those things.

The driving force behind the last couple of months of poor form has been a total impotence in front of goal, and a predictable one at that. The squad does not have many goals in it with Brereton and Dack unavailable. Gallagher has never been prolific. Players like Dolan and Khadra tend to flatter to deceive and rarely offer a goal threat or creativity, just lots of skills and stepovers. Giles is more of a creator, but we don't have the goalscorer on the end of it. Players like Rothwell, Buckley, Travis, they aren't players who score goals.

This run of home games is critical but something major will have to change in an attacking sense because we have rarely even looked like scoring for most of the time since Huddersfield at home. 3 goals in 11 games is piss poor, including a record equalling 5 game barren spell.

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, tomphil said:

 The false 9 bull doesn't work against these lot especially when it's a player who isn't a false 9. ( who is apart from Dack? ). 

Dack isn't either. Nor does he look good at it when he plays there. We actually don't have a 'real' false 9 at the club. Let's play one anyway though eh?

[roversfan99]

The false 9 formation did work very, very well for a fair few months, that should not be forgotten. The formation seemingly is reliant on Brereton playing, who proved prolific from that left hand side. Buckley and Khadra also worked well in tandem with him.

That being said, it definitely needs looking at and did so a few games ago. The criticism should be sticking to it once its effectiveness started to wane rather than it being used at all, especially once Brereton was absent.

The back 3/5 should stay as our results are built on being usually solid at the back, so I understand why that has changed. Things in front of that do need tweaking, a lack of a budget in January meant that we didn't bring in a striker and despite popular demand, I am not convinced that Gallagher central would be too much more successful, many of his weaknesses are highlighted more from there, so I get that the choices are very limited. Dolan was more effective than Buckley last week to an extent but he shares his lack of end product in the final third. I would probably try Giles, Gallagher and Hedges from left to right v Millwall, but the choices aren't the best without Brereton and Dack.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

The false 9 formation did work very, very well for a fair few months, that should not be forgotten. The formation seemingly is reliant on Brereton playing, who proved prolific from that left hand side. Buckley and Khadra also worked well in tandem with him.

That being said, it definitely needs looking at and did so a few games ago. The criticism should be sticking to it once its effectiveness started to wane rather than it being used at all, especially once Brereton was absent.

The back 3/5 should stay as our results are built on being usually solid at the back, so I understand why that has changed. Things in front of that do need tweaking, a lack of a budget in January meant that we didn't bring in a striker and despite popular demand, I am not convinced that Gallagher central would be too much more successful, many of his weaknesses are highlighted more from there, so I get that the choices are very limited. Dolan was more effective than Buckley last week to an extent but he shares his lack of end product in the final third. I would probably try Giles, Gallagher and Hedges from left to right v Millwall, but the choices aren't the best without Brereton and Dack.

We’ve missed Bererton’s ability to carry the ball from the half way line to the penalty box at pace. When we had him and Rothwell both at it we looked good.

We signed Brown, Giles, Hedges, ZeFuik and the lad from Spurs in the window and so far not one of them has contributed in the slightest. 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Bbrovers2288]

Are we obliged to sign zeefuik. He for one isn’t very good and two is made of breadsticks , I really don’t want to sign him 

[chaddyrovers]

14 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Of course teams go through runs of good and bad form, but its very flippant to just put it down as one of those things.

The driving force behind the last couple of months of poor form has been a total impotence in front of goal, and a predictable one at that. The squad does not have many goals in it with Brereton and Dack unavailable. Gallagher has never been prolific. Players like Dolan and Khadra tend to flatter to deceive and rarely offer a goal threat or creativity, just lots of skills and stepovers. Giles is more of a creator, but we don't have the goalscorer on the end of it. Players like Rothwell, Buckley, Travis, they aren't players who score goals.

This run of home games is critical but something major will have to change in an attacking sense because we have rarely even looked like scoring for most of the time since Huddersfield at home. 3 goals in 11 games is piss poor, including a record equalling 5 game barren spell.

Why bring Dack into this when he hasn't played one minute all season for us and I not sure he will feature that much in the coming games either. 

Some teams have worked out out and stop our attacking players being such an influence on the game in recent games. But Will are still the playoffs and like last week against QPR we got the win from Khadra. We outplayed a promotion rival last week and 2 of the reasons for that was Khadra and Dolan. Both young players who are developing and learning each time they are playing. 

Giles should have scored today and if Johnson wasn't offside than Gallagher would have counted. He was in the right place today and made an impact when he came on which is good to see

[chaddyrovers]

13 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Dolan was more effective than Buckley last week to an extent but he shares his lack of end product in the final third. I would probably try Giles, Gallagher and Hedges from left to right v Millwall,

Why drop Dolan after an impressive game against QPR where his role as the pressing forward we one of the reasons we made QPR look so poor? 

[chaddyrovers]

3 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Are we obliged to sign zeefuik. He for one isn’t very good and two is made of breadsticks , I really don’t want to sign him 

I believe it was loan with option to buy for 3.5 million Blackburn Rovers announce signing of Hertha Berlin's DeyovaisioZeefuik | Lancashire Telegraph

[roverandout]

14 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Why bring Dack into this when he hasn't played one minute all season for us and I not sure he will feature that much in the coming games either. 

Some teams have worked out out and stop our attacking players being such an influence on the game in recent games. But Will are still the playoffs and like last week against QPR we got the win from Khadra. We outplayed a promotion rival last week and 2 of the reasons for that was Khadra and Dolan. Both young players who are developing and learning each time they are playing. 

Giles should have scored today and if Johnson wasn't offside than Gallagher would have counted. He was in the right place today and made an impact when he came on which is good to see

If my auntie had bollocks she'd be my uncle 

[Bbrovers2288]

6 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

I believe it was loan with option to buy for 3.5 million Blackburn Rovers announce signing of Hertha Berlin's DeyovaisioZeefuik | Lancashire Telegraph

We 100% should not take up this option, must be better out there 

[islander200]

1 hour ago, alcd said:

The training ground transfer did not cost Venkys a penny. It was an accounting exercise that simply passed ownership from one Venkys company to another. 

It did cost them.They had to lodge 16 million into Rovers.

The company that bought us yes is Venkys that  was set up for this sale but they still had to put 16 million of their money into the club.

[arbitro]

When your game plan goes up in smoke early on due to a calamitous goalkeeping error it's really going to be difficult, particularly with our abysmal scoring record of late. Fulham were so much better than us in the first half it was almost a relief to go in at half time only two down. The change certainly helped us as we looked better but it was always going to be an uphill struggle against a good Fulham side. I really think if we had a Mitrovic type player we would be in a car stronger position. He was really good today and demonstrated all the qualities I think a Championship centre forward should have. This false nine nonsense is covering up for a huge inadequacy that Mowbray hasn't addressed since Danny Graham.

I'm not buying into the winning our three home games theory as we are simply struggling to score a goal never mind however many will be required to win three.

[roversfan99]

17 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Why bring Dack into this when he hasn't played one minute all season for us and I not sure he will feature that much in the coming games either. 

Some teams have worked out out and stop our attacking players being such an influence on the game in recent games. But Will are still the playoffs and like last week against QPR we got the win from Khadra. We outplayed a promotion rival last week and 2 of the reasons for that was Khadra and Dolan. Both young players who are developing and learning each time they are playing. 

Giles should have scored today and if Johnson wasn't offside than Gallagher would have counted. He was in the right place today and made an impact when he came on which is good to see

If, buts and maybes. The only time we came close to scoring legitimately was the Giles chance which based on the decision to shoot, which was probably wrong, was a hard chance to score from that angle. We never really looked like scoring otherwise even in that 15 minutes after half time which summed us up in 2022, toothless. Our only goal in the last 7 games was a direct free kick which was a bad goalkeeping error. I don't see any positives in our attacking play without Brereton.

14 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Why drop Dolan after an impressive game against QPR where his role as the pressing forward we one of the reasons we made QPR look so poor? 

He like all of our other attackers needs to actually start being productive, the stepovers are nice, the pressing is genuinely important but he hasn't done enough in the last 2 games (like everyone in attack, not just him) or indeed really anything that showed a genuine goal threat which is what we need.

My suggestion was very much a further attempt to change our attack which is not looking like scoring, and to change the false 9 system slightly which was fundamental to our success at the end of 2021 but which without Brereton has not provided a goal threat at all really in the last 11 games. Hedges is the one who hasn't really had much of a chance, I'd start him, I would put Gallagher central (I am not convinced that he will be much more productive there but needs must) and get Giles on his natural left side putting in crosses.

[chaddyrovers]

2 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

If, buts and maybes. The only time we came close to scoring legitimately was the Giles chance which based on the decision to shoot, which was probably wrong, was a hard chance to score from that angle. We never really looked like scoring otherwise even in that 15 minutes after half time which summed us up in 2022, toothless. Our only goal in the last 7 games was a direct free kick which was a bad goalkeeping error. I don't see any positives in our attacking play without Brereton.

He like all of our other attackers needs to actually start being productive, the stepovers are nice, the pressing is genuinely important but he hasn't done enough in the last 2 games (like everyone in attack, not just him) or indeed really anything that showed a genuine goal threat which is what we need.

My suggestion was very much a further attempt to change our attack which is not looking like scoring, and to change the false 9 system slightly which was fundamental to our success at the end of 2021 but which without Brereton has not provided a goal threat at all really in the last 11 games. Hedges is the one who hasn't really had much of a chance, I'd start him, I would put Gallagher central (I am not convinced that he will be much more productive there but needs must) and get Giles on his natural left side putting in crosses.

Why bring Dack into this when he hasn't played one minute all season for us?

I think Dolan did more than enough in the last 2 games to start the next one. His pressing is something we need in the team. He deserved his MOTM award against QPR. 

[G Somerset Rover]

58 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

This run of home games is critical but something major will have to change in an attacking sense because we have rarely even looked like scoring for most of the time since Huddersfield at home. 3 goals in 11 games is piss poor, including a record equalling 5 game barren spell.

No goal from open play in 7 matches either. Got to be another record Tony has smashed right there.

[roversfan99]

10 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Why bring Dack into this when he hasn't played one minute all season for us?

I think Dolan did more than enough in the last 2 games to start the next one. His pressing is something we need in the team. He deserved his MOTM award against QPR. 

Whereas I think like with the rest of our current attackers, there is nowhere near enough output at the end of all of the energy and the stepovers to sustain this promotion push, hence the quite frightening tally of 3 goals in 11 games. My suggestion is to change the front 3 slightly and to bin the false 9 thing for the time being.

The reason that I am excited about Dack being back fit is because he is an excellent Championship attacking midfielder who can score goals and sniff out chances. At the moment, we have pretty much zero goal threat, so such a player would be very welcome. Obviously, I am fully aware of the events of the last 2 years and the fact that even when he does return to a matchday squad, he will only be playing cameos for the majority of the remainder of the season, you don't have to tell me every time I mention his name. If I was saying to get him into the starting 11 and implying that he wont be very rusty, you may have a point, but I am fully aware of the size of his absence and the severity of his injury. That being said, if we struggle across the next 3 home games to score a goal which based on the last 2 months is highly likely, I can't think of a better person to bring on for 20 minutes, even if he isn't match fit yet.

[chaddyrovers]

26 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

We 100% should not take up this option, must be better out there 

I was looking forward to seeing Zeefuik and whether he was going to good enough to sign permanently if we got promote. But now he pick up this injury its look unlikely he will feature much now before his loan deal end. 

I like the Barnsley right back/wing back Callum Brittain. He would be a target if he available at the right price

[chaddyrovers]

3 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

The reason that I am excited about Dack being back fit is because he is an excellent Championship attacking midfielder who can score goals and sniff out chances. At the moment, we have pretty much zero goal threat, so such a player would be very welcome. Obviously, I am fully aware of the events of the last 2 years and the fact that even when he does return to a matchday squad, he will only be playing cameos for the majority of the remainder of the season, you don't have to tell me every time I mention his name. If I was saying to get him into the starting 11 and implying that he wont be very rusty, you may have a point, but I am fully aware of the size of his absence and the severity of his injury. That being said, if we struggle across the next 3 home games to score a goal which based on the last 2 months is highly likely, I can't think of a better person to bring on for 20 minutes, even if he isn't match fit yet.

Hasn't Mowbray already said he won't won't feature in the next 3 games anyway? The next under 23 game is Arsenal away on 14th February which I guess he will feature in