v Stoke City (h) - 18/4/22

[booth]

7 hours ago, RoversTilliDie said:

You have more chance of winning the lottery than these weaklings that put up the white flag months ago have of making the play offs.I will be there against stoke tomorrow hopefully a win for the rovers fans who have endured the highs and lows this season.I will also have a 20ft banner with the words mowbray out on it.

Do they allow banners in these days? I thought they banned all that in the Kean Out days. You couldn't even take a post it note in and a packet of crayons in with you. And believe me I tried.

[booth]

3 minutes ago, Mercer said:

I hope we get spanked - anything to finish, IMO, the turgid tenure of Mowbray and Venus.

Sadly, I expect Rovers to win to raise false hope and prolong the agony.

Book your holidays because I think our season will end on Sat 7 May at Brum if not before. 

I never want Rovers to get beat, and even if I did agree with the above it won't change anything. TM will still have that "oh well" look about him. The owners won't give a toss. Nothing will change.

[Mercer]

6 minutes ago, booth said:

I never want Rovers to get beat, and even if I did agree with the above it won't change anything. TM will still have that "oh well" look about him. The owners won't give a toss. Nothing will change.

Things will change when the fans vent their feelings about Mowbray and vote with their feet and cash.

Think the supporters get the club they deserve.  For goodness sake, put the man under pressure.

[tomphil]

We can't be wanting to get beat when there is still a chance of the play offs winning tomorrow then taking that confidence into the Knobbers game could really set us up again.

Can't see us turning it around but if nothing else beating Preston on their own patch would be welcome.

[simongarnerisgod]

12 minutes ago, booth said:

Do they allow banners in these days? I thought they banned all that in the Kean Out days. You couldn't even take a post it note in and a packet of crayons in with you. And believe me I tried.

well someone smuggled a chicken in🤣,hope the crowd finally turns if we put in another shocker

[booth]

4 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

well someone smuggled a chicken in🤣,hope the crowd finally turns if we put in another shocker

I think Kean's ban on any kind of dissent in the stands began with that chicken. I may be wrong.

I hope the crowd turns. The performance against Peterborough was an absolute joke. The effort that went into organising and motivating that team suggests that TM is on his way to another team and he couldn't care less, apart from covering his own ass.

Edited April 17, 2022 by booth

[roversfan99]

If I had a pound for everytime that Mercer has hoped for a defeat over the years, it would go some way to covering the amount he must have lost on the various appalling tips he has put on here.

[Blue blood]

A few kind of firsts for us tomorrow. My sister's first game in a long, long time since she's over from NZ. As someone who emigrated in the early Venkys years it will be interesting to see what a relatively fresh set of eyes - yet one won to Rovers on the magic of the Souness years - makes of the team, the ground and so forth. It's also my first trip since baby Bb so it will be interesting watching games back in person. (We will ignore the fact that Rovers form has spiraled since baby Bb arrived. I'm sure that's an unhappy coincidence.) Prior to this absence a lot of people bar myself were still quite favourable to TM. Interesting if that's still the case. 

My thoughts. A Rovers win. We are due one, things are out of our hands so the pressure is off a bit, and Stoke aren't any great shakes. We often get a reaction as the murmurs of discontent grow. Not aiming for a Mercer but I have a good feeling about this one. 

[Guest]

13 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Time for Mowbray and the players to step up tomorrow and put in a good overall passionate and desire performance and get the win. Far too many times Rovers are slow to start games and don't play with get in their faces attitude. We need to press high, work alot harder for the shirt and don't forget what the badge says and stand for. Mowbray need to drop the back 5 boll0cks and go back to playing 4-2-3-1 formation. So my team would be

                     Kaminski

Nyambe Lenihan Wharton Pickering

                   Travis Johnson

Dolan              Buckley         Brereton
                       

                      Gallagher

Somebody hasn't noticed the patient is dead...

[Miller11]

I’ve been confined to bed all bank holiday weekend, so to further sour my already shit mood I’ve rewatched the Peterborough game.

The tweaks that we made to our play when we hit the good spell of form have now become our weaknesses. The difference between November and now is massive.

The centre backs are now too far apart. Lenihan in particular is obsessed with going out to the touchline and he’s back to engaging with every ball possible like he has done throughout his time as a centre back and all three look far less composed because of this. They get caught out and get in the way. They have also given up on playing simple balls, it always has to be into the channels for Brereton/Gallagher.

Brereton and Gallagher are far too wide, they only come anywhere near central when we are in possession in and around the box. It’s why our build up play is so ponderous and we resort to crap long shots. Gallagher is particularly bad in this role, so why he’s selected when dick head had to bring in 10 “wide forwards” I don’t know. Gallagher is also the softest player I’ve ever seen.

Because we are so overloaded in wide areas, the opposition players pull wide to defend. This almost completely negates the attacking threat of the wing backs. When we were good you’d see Nyambe knock the ball past his man and run, getting us up the field. There are far too many bodies in both coloured shirts to do this now. The only time we really attempt to get the wing backs on the ball is when they have their backs to goal. Again, The long, high diagonal balls into the corner when they are pushed on up next to our supposed strikers.

Buckley was our best player for a spell when he was playing in midfield, but nipping out of midfield and leading the press when they tried to play it out from the back. He’d nick it off their holding midfielder or centre back, but he was in no way shape or form an attacker. He is now completely lost, frustrated and ineffective, because all he is expected to do is chase everything down like prime Paul Dickov. Games are completely passing him by aside from the odd stupid foul and piss weak shot. Our best passer of the ball has nobody to pass to most of the time.

The more we have learnt to play the way Mowbray wants us to, the worse we have got. It’s as though Mowbray has instructed the players to do these things (that should be subtle variations from the way they would normally expect to play) all the time, to only concern themselves with them and to forget everything that comes naturally to them. It’s obviously drilled into them too, we aren’t deviating at all.

Unless we throw Mowbray’s playbook out of the window (like Derby second half) we will lose again tomorrow. 

[tomphil]

4 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

I’ve been confined to bed all bank holiday weekend, so to further sour my already shit mood I’ve rewatched the Peterborough game.

The tweaks that we made to our play when we hit the good spell of form have now become our weaknesses. The difference between November and now is massive.

The centre backs are now too far apart. Lenihan in particular is obsessed with going out to the touchline and he’s back to engaging with every ball possible like he has done throughout his time as a centre back and all three look far less composed because of this. They get caught out and get in the way. They have also given up on playing simple balls, it always has to be into the channels for Brereton/Gallagher.

Brereton and Gallagher are far too wide, they only come anywhere near central when we are in possession in and around the box. It’s why our build up play is so ponderous and we resort to crap long shots. Gallagher is particularly bad in this role, so why he’s selected when dick head had to bring in 10 “wide forwards” I don’t know. Gallagher is also the softest player I’ve ever seen.

Because we are so overloaded in wide areas, the opposition players pull wide to defend. This almost completely negates the attacking threat of the wing backs. When we were good you’d see Nyambe knock the ball past his man and run, getting us up the field. There are far too many bodies in both coloured shirts to do this now. The only time we really attempt to get the wing backs on the ball is when they have their backs to goal. Again, The long, high diagonal balls into the corner when they are pushed on up next to our supposed strikers.

Buckley was our best player for a spell when he was playing in midfield, but nipping out of midfield and leading the press when they tried to play it out from the back. He’d nick it off their holding midfielder or centre back, but he was in no way shape or form an attacker. He is now completely lost, frustrated and ineffective, because all he is expected to do is chase everything down like prime Paul Dickov. Games are completely passing him by aside from the odd stupid foul and piss weak shot. Our best passer of the ball has nobody to pass to most of the time.

The more we have learnt to play the way Mowbray wants us to, the worse we have got. It’s as though Mowbray has instructed the players to do these things (that should be subtle variations from the way they would normally expect to play) all the time, to only concern themselves with them and to forget everything that comes naturally to them. It’s obviously drilled into them too, we aren’t deviating at all.

Unless we throw Mowbray’s playbook out of the window (like Derby second half) we will lose again tomorrow. 

After watching 2 seasons of that stubbornly imposed possession rubbish nobody would be surprised if they are now back to being drilled into something else just to try and make it work.

I'm glad someone else has noticed the subtle differences that started as soon as a few enforced changes had to be made. We've never gone back to what was working in that great run at all this more resembles what was going on in the period that led to a 0-7 home clumping.

[Gav]

2 hours ago, Mercer said:

I hope we get spanked 

 

1 hour ago, Blue blood said:

A few kind of firsts for us tomorrow. My sister's first game in a long, long time since she's over from NZ. 

We still have an outside chance of a playoff place, we have fans flying in from the other side of the world.

Let this post sink in…,

[windymiller7]

55 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

I’ve been confined to bed all bank holiday weekend, so to further sour my already shit mood I’ve rewatched the Peterborough game.

The tweaks that we made to our play when we hit the good spell of form have now become our weaknesses. The difference between November and now is massive.

The centre backs are now too far apart. Lenihan in particular is obsessed with going out to the touchline and he’s back to engaging with every ball possible like he has done throughout his time as a centre back and all three look far less composed because of this. They get caught out and get in the way. They have also given up on playing simple balls, it always has to be into the channels for Brereton/Gallagher.

Brereton and Gallagher are far too wide, they only come anywhere near central when we are in possession in and around the box. It’s why our build up play is so ponderous and we resort to crap long shots. Gallagher is particularly bad in this role, so why he’s selected when dick head had to bring in 10 “wide forwards” I don’t know. Gallagher is also the softest player I’ve ever seen.

Because we are so overloaded in wide areas, the opposition players pull wide to defend. This almost completely negates the attacking threat of the wing backs. When we were good you’d see Nyambe knock the ball past his man and run, getting us up the field. There are far too many bodies in both coloured shirts to do this now. The only time we really attempt to get the wing backs on the ball is when they have their backs to goal. Again, The long, high diagonal balls into the corner when they are pushed on up next to our supposed strikers.

Buckley was our best player for a spell when he was playing in midfield, but nipping out of midfield and leading the press when they tried to play it out from the back. He’d nick it off their holding midfielder or centre back, but he was in no way shape or form an attacker. He is now completely lost, frustrated and ineffective, because all he is expected to do is chase everything down like prime Paul Dickov. Games are completely passing him by aside from the odd stupid foul and piss weak shot. Our best passer of the ball has nobody to pass to most of the time.

The more we have learnt to play the way Mowbray wants us to, the worse we have got. It’s as though Mowbray has instructed the players to do these things (that should be subtle variations from the way they would normally expect to play) all the time, to only concern themselves with them and to forget everything that comes naturally to them. It’s obviously drilled into them too, we aren’t deviating at all.

Unless we throw Mowbray’s playbook out of the window (like Derby second half) we will lose again tomorrow. 

Great Post which can be summed up in 4 words and a 'special character' = Mowbray is a prick!

[Exiled_Rover]

3 hours ago, Mercer said:

Things will change when the fans vent their feelings about Mowbray and vote with their feet and cash.

Think the supporters get the club they deserve.  For goodness sake, put the man under pressure.

It angers me when people suggest those that still go to Ewood are 'apathetic'.

There's no 'putting the man under pressure'. We've lost 10k off the gates and have protested previous managers (and the owners themselves). 

The owners don't even know we've got a game tomorrow - they literally couldn't give a toss about the club. We're in purgatory. 

[Tom]

Excited to see Tony’s master plan for tomorrow.

By master plan of course I mean his latest in a series of ‘inventing reasons to sub Ryan Nyambe’ 

[Nuttall is lost]

Its the sort of club Mike Ashley might buy.

Sports Direct Rovers

 

[Nuttall is lost]

Predicting a final nail in the coffin tomorrow.  A 1-0 or 2-0 defeat.

[Upside Down]

Stoke to win by three in a very comfortable manner. 

[Mercer]

5 hours ago, Gav said:

 

We still have an outside chance of a playoff place, we have fans flying in from the other side of the world.

Let this post sink in…,

Don't be such a bloody drama queen.

I think we need a change of manager, and have done so since Mowbray oversaw our relegation to League One, and keep carrying on with Mowbray is akin to continually taking paracetamol for a headache that wont go away and a refusal to go to the doctors only to discover when it's too late that you have a terminal brain tumour.

[Mercer]

4 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

It angers me when people suggest those that still go to Ewood are 'apathetic'.

There's no 'putting the man under pressure'. We've lost 10k off the gates and have protested previous managers (and the owners themselves). 

The owners don't even know we've got a game tomorrow - they literally couldn't give a toss about the club. We're in purgatory. 

Managers and directors get an easy ride at Ewood these days. 

Think you've been around long enough to remember when the crowd knew a manager's time was up and feelings were well and truly vented both in the ground and in Nuttall Street and more often that not, it brought action.  These days I think most supporters just shrug their shoulders in Mowbrayesque fashion.

The supporters get the management team they generally deserve.

[RoversTilliDie]

Here's statistics for rovers and stokes last 6 matches, Stoke W3 D0 L3  F8 A6 Pts 9

Rovers W1 D2 L3 F7 A8 Pts5. Stoke seem to lose to lower clubs and beat higher up clubs.Rovers lost to Peterboro and are playing like there the bottom club.Going by them statistics I am predicting 5-0 to Rovers.

[RoversTilliDie]

9 hours ago, tomphil said:

We can't be wanting to get beat when there is still a chance of the play offs winning tomorrow then taking that confidence into the Knobbers game could really set us up again.

Can't see us turning it around but if nothing else beating Preston on their own patch would be welcome.

My words exactly, never say die.

[RoversTilliDie]

If the ref doesn't run out onto the pitch wearing a stoke kit I am going for a Rovers win.The officials seem to support whoever plays against us.

[Gav]

52 minutes ago, RoversTilliDie said:

If the ref doesn't run out onto the pitch wearing a stoke kit I am going for a Rovers win.The officials seem to support whoever plays against us.

I know you're having a bit of a laugh here and you make your own luck in football, but we've been on the end of some awful refereeing this season, the standard has plummeted to the worse I can ever remember. 

It always seems worse when you can't buy a win or score goals, but I'm sure I'm not on my own in thinking they've been awful. 

Rovers 1 Stoke 1 - Players have given up.

[cesus]

We all know this is a game we win today, the gap to the play offs stays 2 points. The hope builds again then we put in a horrific performance at Preston live on TV in another punch to the gut.