Transfer Window - COMPLETE. Where’s Gregg?

[Sparks Rover]

8 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Not at all. Rothwell has been replaced by Buckley

So, who's making those penetrative runs through the defence that we were all.getting a stonk on about pre Christmas last season. ? Mowbray should have got more out of JR, but he can do things nobody in this squad can do..hopefully he can do it at Premier league level but at times unplayable in this league.

[roversfan99]

7 minutes ago, Finlay McKenna said:

I think the reason for 99% of Buckley’s poor performances last season were him being played up front. No surprise he was our best performer when he moved back into midfield.

His best ever run of form came in that position initially.

1 hour ago, ben_the_beast said:

John Buckley will be almost universally regarded as the best footballer at the club at the end of the season. When I say almost universally, I mean everybody but @Sparks Rover

I hope not simply because that would mean that Dack clearly hasnt returned to his old self.

1 hour ago, JoeH said:

Bucko will get more goals and assists contributions over the next 3 seasons than Rothwell did over four seasons here.

By being played in holding midfield?

[Finlay McKenna]

12 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

So, who's making those penetrative runs through the defence that we were all.getting a stonk on about pre Christmas last season. ? Mowbray should have got more out of JR, but he can do things nobody in this squad can do..hopefully he can do it at Premier league level but at times unplayable in this league.

Maybe we don’t need those anymore, because we’re not playing that system reliant on quick breaks.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

By being played in holding midfield?

By taking all the set pieces for his assists and scoring 4/5 from open play each year. Rothwell got 28 G/A's in his time here, I think Buckley could easily get to 10 G/A's a season for 3 seasons in a row taking every corner yeah. And he's likely to move around and play in different areas as he goes.

[Finlay McKenna]

10 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

By being played in holding midfield?

Not sure when Buckley has ever been operated as a holding midfielder?

[tomphil]

46 minutes ago, Vilesinner said:

Buckley played extremely well last season. His passing and winning the ball back were the best at the club. 

Only in short spells but that's probably what we'd expect of a young player. 

Should have been put out of his false nine misery once it wasn't happening for him anymore. Came to life again once moved to his more natural role so hopefully a bit stronger and consistent this season.

Great little player in the making.

[Exiled in Toronto]

29 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

So, who's making those penetrative runs through the defence that we were all.getting a stonk on about pre Christmas last season. ? Mowbray should have got more out of JR, but he can do things nobody in this squad can do..hopefully he can do it at Premier league level but at times unplayable in this league.

You mean those runs that 9/10 ended with him surrounded by defenders and losing the ball? Buckley’s forward passing is a lot quicker and goes to a teammate more often. He got through the defence about three times all season.

Edited August 4, 2022 by Exiled in Toronto

[mustard]

1 hour ago, BigBar said:

Oh no they are doing the weird thing of erasing how bad Buckley was last season overall and trying to convince others to drink the kool-aid. Another season of hearing how good poor performances are and how stunning decent performances are. All to save face. Yawn. 

Drivel

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, BigBar said:

Oh no they are doing the weird thing of erasing how bad Buckley was last season overall and trying to convince others to drink the kool-aid. Another season of hearing how good poor performances are and how stunning decent performances are. All to save face. Yawn. 

Bizarre claims, why not just accept that some people (uh, most by the looks of it) have a different opinion to you on the player, rather than make it some sort of collective cognitive dissonance?

I'm on record as having been highly critical of him the season before last. I thought he was too weak, naive, lacking athleticism, and showed far too little glimpses of the talent we were told he had. A certain poster's comments about him being worth 10 million were laughable to me, and I still feel that was a fair assessment by me at the time based on what had been shown. I wouldn't argue he is worth that now, just yet, but at least there'd be a discussion to be had.

Last season completely changed my view on him. He got stronger, and seemingly faster and fitter. He learnt the speed of the game, passed with far more consistency, and became remarkably good at nicking the ball off the opposition. Frankly he looked a different player, and is clearly key for us now despite being moved around a bit too much. The only real let down was that patch he had of missing loads of highly presentable shooting chances, that pissed me off a lot. The lad needs to learn to shoot, I said...cue the end of season rocket he scored.

There's no face-saving from me here, in fact I had to about-face to form my newer opinion of him. I'll about-face again if he starts playing shit again, because I'm interested in my opinion being accurate more than the appearance of consistency. But at least if I do change my mind on him again, I'll know there's a player in there. How you missed it, I don't know - in fact it comes across a lot more like you're the one trying to save face by refusing to admit he has improved considerably.

[RV Blue]

3 hours ago, BigBar said:

Oh no they are doing the weird thing of erasing how bad Buckley was last season overall and trying to convince others to drink the kool-aid. Another season of hearing how good poor performances are and how stunning decent performances are. All to save face. Yawn. 

What the fuck is kool-aid?

[AllRoverAsia]

9 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

What's he spot on about, out of interest?

You need to be a regular reader, I have no inclination to be your educator.

[AllRoverAsia]

9 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Dreadful quote to use to back up your argument. It's gone down in folklore because the exact opposite happened. 

Once, twice, every other week?

Maybe once in a blue moon.

[yankfan]

It’s worrying how thin we are at back atm. No senior CB, Edun is hardly a serviceable left back, jrc at right back?  The squad needs a lot of improvement but there’s at least serviceable alternatives in the middle and up top. 

[yankfan]

2 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Bizarre claims, why not just accept that some people (uh, most by the looks of it) have a different opinion to you on the player, rather than make it some sort of collective cognitive dissonance?

I'm on record as having been highly critical of him the season before last. I thought he was too weak, naive, lacking athleticism, and showed far too little glimpses of the talent we were told he had. A certain poster's comments about him being worth 10 million were laughable to me, and I still feel that was a fair assessment by me at the time based on what had been shown. I wouldn't argue he is worth that now, just yet, but at least there'd be a discussion to be had.

Last season completely changed my view on him. He got stronger, and seemingly faster and fitter. He learnt the speed of the game, passed with far more consistency, and became remarkably good at nicking the ball off the opposition. Frankly he looked a different player, and is clearly key for us now despite being moved around a bit too much. The only real let down was that patch he had of missing loads of highly presentable shooting chances, that pissed me off a lot. The lad needs to learn to shoot, I said...cue the end of season rocket he scored.

There's no face-saving from me here, in fact I had to about-face to form my newer opinion of him. I'll about-face again if he starts playing shit again, because I'm interested in my opinion being accurate more than the appearance of consistency. But at least if I do change my mind on him again, I'll know there's a player in there. How you missed it, I don't know - in fact it comes across a lot more like you're the one trying to save face by refusing to admit he has improved considerably.

He missed loads of chances down the stretch, but the whole side did. Fucking Gally wiffed a sitter to secure points. A chance my 6 year old could have finished. JRC had a few chances too. Buckley was by far our most effective central player after Rothwell quit in January. Sure he didn’t finish the chances he should have but he created far more than anyone else after the window closed. 

[JacknOry]

2 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Bizarre claims, why not just accept that some people (uh, most by the looks of it) have a different opinion to you on the player, rather than make it some sort of collective cognitive dissonance?

I'm on record as having been highly critical of him the season before last. I thought he was too weak, naive, lacking athleticism, and showed far too little glimpses of the talent we were told he had. A certain poster's comments about him being worth 10 million were laughable to me, and I still feel that was a fair assessment by me at the time based on what had been shown. I wouldn't argue he is worth that now, just yet, but at least there'd be a discussion to be had.

Last season completely changed my view on him. He got stronger, and seemingly faster and fitter. He learnt the speed of the game, passed with far more consistency, and became remarkably good at nicking the ball off the opposition. Frankly he looked a different player, and is clearly key for us now despite being moved around a bit too much. The only real let down was that patch he had of missing loads of highly presentable shooting chances, that pissed me off a lot. The lad needs to learn to shoot, I said...cue the end of season rocket he scored.

There's no face-saving from me here, in fact I had to about-face to form my newer opinion of him. I'll about-face again if he starts playing shit again, because I'm interested in my opinion being accurate more than the appearance of consistency. But at least if I do change my mind on him again, I'll know there's a player in there. How you missed it, I don't know - in fact it comes across a lot more like you're the one trying to save face by refusing to admit he has improved considerably.

Exactly my feelings on Bucko. Its been a pleasure to see him develop. He was indeed weak and looked lost alot when he first came in. Has grown though and slowly but surely has become one of our better players in my view. He will go on to become a PL player in my opinion.

[Rover8T4]

1 hour ago, JacknOry said:

Exactly my feelings on Bucko. Its been a pleasure to see him develop. He was indeed weak and looked lost alot when he first came in. Has grown though and slowly but surely has become one of our better players in my view. He will go on to become a PL player in my opinion.

Bucko done really well last season. Played a few positions but even as a false 9 it was his pressing that created a few of the goals on our run of form. Won back the ball a lot and cutting out passing lines from the front. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, But he did improve a lot playing regular and hope he continues to improve this season

[Ossydave]

Looks like Vydra ain't signing a new deal down the road, wonder how much he's after? More than our 4 buttons and a Netflix subscription wage structure I guess, but he'll do a job at this level for someone.

[Paul Mani]

4 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Bizarre claims, why not just accept that some people (uh, most by the looks of it) have a different opinion to you on the player, rather than make it some sort of collective cognitive dissonance?

I'm on record as having been highly critical of him the season before last. I thought he was too weak, naive, lacking athleticism, and showed far too little glimpses of the talent we were told he had. A certain poster's comments about him being worth 10 million were laughable to me, and I still feel that was a fair assessment by me at the time based on what had been shown. I wouldn't argue he is worth that now, just yet, but at least there'd be a discussion to be had.

Last season completely changed my view on him. He got stronger, and seemingly faster and fitter. He learnt the speed of the game, passed with far more consistency, and became remarkably good at nicking the ball off the opposition. Frankly he looked a different player, and is clearly key for us now despite being moved around a bit too much. The only real let down was that patch he had of missing loads of highly presentable shooting chances, that pissed me off a lot. The lad needs to learn to shoot, I said...cue the end of season rocket he scored.

There's no face-saving from me here, in fact I had to about-face to form my newer opinion of him. I'll about-face again if he starts playing shit again, because I'm interested in my opinion being accurate more than the appearance of consistency. But at least if I do change my mind on him again, I'll know there's a player in there. How you missed it, I don't know - in fact it comes across a lot more like you're the one trying to save face by refusing to admit he has improved considerably.

I refer back to that post now because it’d be easy for me to gloat but the opinion I expressed on Buckley wasn’t even mine…

In context, I’d been told from a member of the coaching team that Buckley was the gem of the academy and someone they believed was destined for stardom. We played a night game and Buckley played. I was a guest at the game of a friend of mine and got speaking to a scout in the lounge at half time. It turned out he and a couple of other PL scouts had been alerted to the fact he was starting that night and had turned up to watch him…fwiw, I couldn’t see why!? But when I pushed a bit harder it turned out that the club knew he was (still is) being circled by PL clubs because he’s a special player and that’s when THEY said it would take “8 figures” to take him from Rovers at that time.

They think Adam Wharton and Ash Phillips are very special too. Harry Leonard the other one to watch!

[Ossydave]

Buckley has been a slow burner, taken him a bit of time to make the transition from youth level football to the rigours of the championship. He now looks as comfortable as anyone though and will be a real asset this season, aided by a manager who (hopefully) won't piss about with his position.

Could be a similar story with Vale I feel, there's less space, less time on the ball and ultimately less chances at championship level, any player needs to adapt they need patience from the manager and fans though and it can be frustrating at times.

[Paul Mani]

7 hours ago, Angry_Pirate said:

I hope that by the end of the window Buckley is not our best player.

 

Ps. It's late, but I'm almost certain he isn't.

For context…in the time Tugay was at Rovers there were many star players, Cole Yorke, Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz - match winners! But the best footballer (in a purist sense) at the club was ALWAYS Tugay.

That’s Buckley now at Rovers. His brain and technical ability is insane. That’s what the club have seen. It’s just taken time for his body to catch up. Sure, we may sign Szmodics who gets 10 goals before Christmas, or a Josh Bowler who gets us off our seat, or a JPvH who we marvel at his defensive abilities, or Travis bulldozing himself through midfield (PL eyes on him too btw) but the Rolls Royce in there is John Buckley. I (and it looks like most others) see that now.

That was my point around him being the best footballer at the club no matter who we sign.

Edit - I saw a post in here a few pages back saying we will be the envy of many Championship clubs this season with Travis and Buckley in CM and I 💯 agree. Savour them and be proud that we created them I say…imo both will be playing in the PL within the next season or two. I just hope it’s with us! 

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by Paul Mani

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

7 hours ago, Sparks Rover said:

So, who's making those penetrative runs through the defence that we were all.getting a stonk on about pre Christmas last season. ? Mowbray should have got more out of JR, but he can do things nobody in this squad can do..hopefully he can do it at Premier league level but at times unplayable in this league.

I agree that Rothwell was like a Rolls Royce when running through the midfield, and I struggle to think of any central midfield player playing in this country who is as good. However, the end product from these runs is often lacking - getting tackled by the centre half after gliding through midfield - at which point the midfield can be exposed in transition. His passing is at best average, often giving the ball away in bad positions.

Having said all that, he had a real purple patch at the first half of last season - and then dropped away in the second half of the season. He is a player who will always get people off their seats, and it will be interesting to see if he develops in the Premiership under a different manager.

[Mattyblue]

‘Negative’ police again. This place is getting very daft with all this.

For the millionth time, people can have whatever opinion they want on an obscure internet message board… they can ‘back’ them, ‘slag’ them or just think they are ok, it makes not one iota of difference to if a dozen posters on brfcs.com ‘get behind ‘em FFS’ or not.

You debate and explain why ‘player x is actually great’ (just like Mani is doing), don’t try and just shut debate down with more ‘negative’ barbs.
 

Edited August 5, 2022 by Mattyblue

[Sweaty Gussets]

3 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

You need to be a regular reader, I have no inclination to be your educator.

Au contraire, you've educated me to the fact you can't back up your claims. 

[AJW]

7 hours ago, Finlay McKenna said:

Not sure when Buckley has ever been operated as a holding midfielder?

I seem him as  a Holding midfielder in the Pirlo/Tugay mould rather than the Makelele style 

Edited August 5, 2022 by AJW

[OldEwoodBlue]

Buckley in the same sentence as.

Tugay.

Pub level in comparison but I agree our best "footballer" with "footballer's" brain.

Can only blame Venkys for how we went from there to here and why many of our remaining fans lap it up as our level.

People saying Rothwell was great. 3 goals in his best season. He was an awful player.

 

Defenders had better be coming soon.

If Ayala (our best player) gets injured at weekend we will be in big trouble.