Sam Szmodics-Your thoughts?

[Mattyblue]

Some crap performances, of course there were, especially those particular two either side of the World Cup, but it was a transition.

But considering; it was out with five years of TM and his culture around the place, new manager, new system, the emphasis on fitness, so many young lads being introduced… he did remarkably well to have us top 6 pretty much throughout, ‘terrible’, it certainly wasn’t’

Edited September 17, 2023 by Mattyblue

[CambridgeRover]

Almost equalled his tally for league assists and goals last season in the first six games of this season. 

Whilst our striking options are struggling he has massively stepped up. 

[bluebruce]

57 minutes ago, CambridgeRover said:

Almost equalled his tally for league assists and goals last season in the first six games of this season. 

Whilst our striking options are struggling he has massively stepped up. 

Came here to say this. 4 league goals and an assist in 6 games (501 minutes). Last season, 5 league goals and 2 assists in 34 games (2,178 minutes). Should be nailed on to beat last season's tally, and you'd hope we can get at least 10 league goals out of him this season now. If he can get Dack-like numbers, but adds pressing intensity and fitness reliability (fingers crossed) then it vindicates management's decision to let Dack go. Of course, if there's an injury we're hugely reliant on Moran.

[Andy]

The first 6 months of JDT's reign were absolutely not terrible.

They were inconsistent, which considering we were transitioning in style, as well as new players, should be expected.

But the fact that we stuck around in the top 6 for almost the entire season is testament to how well he did.

[tomphil]

Bradley who.... ?

Szmodz well on the way to being a cult hero, only problem is a player like him in his position who grafts so much it'll be hard to shine in back to back games.  So relying on him to come up with something every game is unwise, he needs help at the top end and yesterday apart from the clever little move pr Sammies goal Gallagher was useless in that central position again.

[roverblue]

Our best player

[Upside Down]

20 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

End of the day this how forums are, everywhere. Extremely reactive. It’s totally different at the ground where the Rovers support is very patient. 

Saw a post on a Facebook group today saying how ‘shit’ Rovers fans were (as a collective) because there were some ‘negative’ posts during the game, presumably from folk watching through a Firestick anyway.

Online life is not real life.

No secret that we have shit fans. Just look at the attendance figures 😁

[Tugayisgod]

20 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Szmodics scored in his first game so he definitely wasnt written off after 45 minutes.

He was poor in the first half of last season in the main, he came for a big (relative to the run down modern day Rovers) fee, it sidelined Dack and his performances were underwhelming, he was even dropped to play a couple of games with the kids. Questions were understandably asked.

Then he stepped up, really started contributing and he is universally popular now, full of praise. Dont see any problem. (Aside from that weird comment from a solitary poster who wanted his legs broke, which was rightly jumped on by everyone)

It's not Szmodics I'll n particular I'm talking about to be fair. Moran had half an hour on Saturday and struggled admittedly to adjust to the pace of the game. But there's no doubt there's a player in there and will be big for us this season

Same with Telalovic, came on at a time when Boro were having their best spell and spent most of the time chasing down the two Boro cbs. Had little to chance to show what he could  do with the ball at his feet, apart from that through ball to sammi

[roversfan99]

49 minutes ago, Tugayisgod said:

It's not Szmodics I'll n particular I'm talking about to be fair. Moran had half an hour on Saturday and struggled admittedly to adjust to the pace of the game. But there's no doubt there's a player in there and will be big for us this season

Same with Telalovic, came on at a time when Boro were having their best spell and spent most of the time chasing down the two Boro cbs. Had little to chance to show what he could  do with the ball at his feet, apart from that through ball to sammi

Of course there is some doubt or at least jeopardy as to whether he will be a big player for us, we dont know at this stage. He has never played senior football really and he is also a natural number 10 so there is a question as to whether him and Szmodics could both fit in effectively. Really struggled as you touched on when he came on, although I thought he did well at Plymouth.

For both players, we have nothing to go off based on their careers prior to coming to Rovers. People are going to develop an opinion on a game by game basis when commenting on each game and discussing it. If they do poorly initially and then improve, Szmodics is the perfect example of how a player will get the required praise if they start thriving but it didnt make the criticism in the first half of last season incorrect.

There is an onus on both contributing this season, both have been signed as first team players so fingers crossed they will. Probably a decent chance of seeing both from the start on Wednesday.

[joey_big_nose]

Going back to the start of this thread is a great example of why not to judge new players too early.....

Szmodics is fantastic for us, and while he nominally plays in Dack's number 10 role he is a totally different sort of player who is more reminiscent of Crag Bellamy in his style. If he had more pace (and he's not slow) Szmodics would be a premier league player. I like everything about him.

Stepping back - the two main signings we got last year - Hyam and Szmodics - have turned out to be brilliant. Hoping that the signings this year are similar quality. But we do need to give them a couple of months to bed in.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, joey_big_nose said:

Going back to the start of this thread is a great example of why not to judge new players too early.....

Szmodics is fantastic for us, and while he nominally plays in Dack's number 10 role he is a totally different sort of player who is more reminiscent of Crag Bellamy in his style. If he had more pace (and he's not slow) Szmodics would be a premier league player. I like everything about him.

Stepping back - the two main signings we got last year - Hyam and Szmodics - have turned out to be brilliant. Hoping that the signings this year are similar quality. But we do need to give them a couple of months to bed in.

Or more a demonstration on how things can change. Player signs for decent fee and for 6 months shows very little whilst other areas of the team are lacking, people question the signing. Player starts becoming a big player for the team, people in unison praise him. Nothing to see here, at neither point were people wrong.

[joey_big_nose]

16 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Or more a demonstration on how things can change. Player signs for decent fee and for 6 months shows very little whilst other areas of the team are lacking, people question the signing. Player starts becoming a big player for the team, people in unison praise him. Nothing to see here, at neither point were people wrong.

Well, they (including me amongst them) were wrong in terms of him being a poor or unnecessary player.

[roversfan99]

3 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Well, they (including me amongst them) were wrong in terms of him being a poor or unnecessary player.

But it was fair at that stage to suggest that he was based on a few months worth of performances.

[joey_big_nose]

6 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

But it was fair at that stage to suggest that he was based on a few months worth of performances.

Plenty doubting him (including me) after one or two games as seen by the timestamps at the start of the thread.

If it had been a few months I think thats fair enough. 

Reading through the thread think most fans was onboard with him being decent by mid October.

Just saying the 7 new signings will need similar time to bed in. 6-10 games.

[roverblue]

He also brings more to the team than just being a good player who gives 100% every game.

If you watch him off the ball or when its out of play he is constantly berating his team mates or dishing out instructions.

Would make a great captain.

[rigger]

1 minute ago, roverblue said:

He also brings more to the team than just being a good player who gives 100% every game.

If you watch him off the ball or when its out of play he is constantly berating his team mates or dishing out instructions.

Would make a great captain.

Szmodic is the leader, he just hasn't got the captains armband.

[windymiller7]

Go on Sammie! Thoroughly deserved!

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2023/october/09/sammie-gets-the-call-/

[rigger]

I hope he doesn't get injured.

[tomphil]

Fully deserves it but i always gulp whenever a player of ours gets called up because of the extra injury risk and fatigue.

[bluebruce]

3 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Fully deserves it but i always gulp whenever a player of ours gets called up because of the extra injury risk and fatigue.

Yep, we could definitely do with him having a break instead, given we play him as frequently as we can and he puts in a shift. I'm sure he'll be made up though, just hope it doesn't start getting in the way at club level like it did with Brereton (tbf that also supercharged him initially).

[simongarnerisgod]

i though he was a bit out of his depth when he joined last year,got better and better to his credit and thoroughly deserves his call up,i just hope he does`nt get injured cos he`s now an integral part of blackburn rovers,i hope siggy gets through unscathed as well🤐

[roversfan99]

Not great news for us, puts a key player who has played lots and could do with a rest in jeopardy of injury. Injury to him or Sigurdsson would be a huge, huge problem.

Very surprised it has taken so long though considering the dearth of talent that Ireland have, well deserved.

[DE.]

Just have to hope he comes through the international break unscathed, and his inclusion in the national team spurs him on to continue his excellent form for us thus far. 

[Torgeir]

Hope we don't have to pay Peterborough any more for this call-up or if he makes his debut. Good on him though, he's been outstanding for us and is a real workhorse seasoned with a little flair.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Certainly one of our players that has improved his game in his time here. Well done Sami.