v Luton Town (a) - 17/9/22

[Mercer]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Real Superstars are showing their quality even at a young age. Look at Shearer for instance. Hirst could still turn out to be a good signing though. Kevin Keegan was a great player and he had to start at Scunthorpe.

and Arsenal had a 15 year old schoolboy on the bench today who came on for a few remaining minutes!

Just let that sink in.

I know which of the two (Nwaneri or Hirst) is going to be a star!

Edited September 18, 2022 by Mercer

[Mercer]

4 minutes ago, den said:

I could be wrong here, but I have it in my mind that he scored something like 27 consecutive penalties, then missed one and didn’t take any more.

I don't think I have seen anyone ever hit a ball as hard as Harrison could and compared to today they were medicine balls!

[Atko's Engine]

2 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

BTW, when is the expiry date on the 'not had enough time to implement his ideas/style of play' excuse?? 

Without wanting to look like a stalker & bring this up again (!), I've just read the following quote from JDT after yesterday:

"I have said from the beginning that the November break will be very important for this team. I want to be on the pitch to get the chance to train on the pitch. It's a young and new group. After November, then I think you will see a more steady Blackburn, more consistent."

I think that's fair enough; by the end of the Jan transfer window, we should be achieving that consistency in his view.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

35 minutes ago, den said:

I could be wrong here, but I have it in my mind that he scored something like 27 consecutive penalties, then missed one and didn’t take any more.

edit just read renrags post. I bow to his stats. I thought it was more than that.

No, he didn’t take so many.
 

I remember his first against Liverpool at the Blackburn End in a 3-2 win after being 2-0 down ! Those were the days when we did comebacks. I was right behind the goals and he side footed it in like a rocket. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

35 minutes ago, Mercer said:

I don't think I have seen anyone ever hit a ball as hard as Harrison could and compared to today they were medicine balls!

He used to cross the ball like a rocket as well. Straight as an arrow. Get the slightest bit of head on it and it was a goal.

He had a skill you never see today, he could cross the ball whilst at full gallop down the wing without breaking his stride.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[booth]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

who says the fee is 5 million pounds to sign him permanent. 

GB and the recruitment team do the scouting and researching players for signings then GB and JDT select who they want to sign. 

I think Hirst is going to be hit here, just need to get match fit and score that first goal. 

Been looking at Sunderland striker Ross Stewart to sign either in January or next summer. 

blimey, let's get Hirst fit and ready to go over the next 2 weeks but I would be selecting him up front as number 9 against Millwall

Hirst doesn't look anywhere near the standard right now. Maybe it is a case of match fitness but for me there doesn't seem to be much there, not that that's helped by the rest of the team.

Ross Stewart could be a good signing. Mowbray hates strikers so could happen.

[G Somerset Rover]

Edit: Ignore the below - can see it’s already been posted that Dack liked the tweet.

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[M_B]

4 hours ago, Atko's Engine said:

Is that what JDT did though? Do we know 100% that Szmodics is 100% after his concussion 2 weeks ago? Do we know that his reason for not including 18 y/o Wharton was to ensure he was fit for England? I think (and stand to be corrected) that's just suspicion or conjecture; they could also be decisions purely with the players' own welfare in mind.  

For the majority of the 10 games played in the league we've had a decimated, stretched squad where we've had LBs at CB, midfielders at RB, a 17yr old at CB & an 18 year old at CM. several 18 yr old academy players have made their debuts out of necessity rather than choice. There can be no argument there surely, albeit I agree that's not the reason we lost & played poorly yesterday.

Joint 5th as you put it is a more than acceptable start IMO, with some good performances mixed in with some poor ones. Time & patience is key.

I don't know for a fact that Szmodics was 100% fit, but surely that isn't the point. He was fit enough to turn out for the under 21's, if the squad is decimated, then he would have played for the first team. Same goes for Wharton, Tomasson wouldn't have had the luxury of making the choice. 

Injuries don't come into it, they're part and parcel of getting through the season, we're now talking about loaning Phillips out to give him games. 

I just don't subscribe to the theory that Tomasson inherited a decimated squad. 

Young, light on numbers maybe, but when he signs 6 new players and only 2 are starting games, then it doesn't really add up does it? 

[MarkBRFC]

On 15/09/2022 at 12:13, MarkBRFC said:

 

We'll lose here 2-0, to keep our symmetrical run of won 5 lost 5 going into the international break.

Most predictable result of the weekend again.

No point dressing it up, yesterday's performance was pathetic against a team who hadn't won't at home yet, and that included games against Presto , Wigan and Coventry.

JDT obviously needs time to stamp his ideas in, but I think he's showing himself up to be pretty naive at the minute. 

 

[Mercer]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

No, he didn’t take so many.
 

I remember his first against Liverpool at the Blackburn End in a 3-2 win after being 2-0 down ! Those were the days when we did comebacks. I was right behind the goals and he side footed it in like a rocket. 

and if I remember rightly, it was either John Byrom or Andy McEvoy who got our winner?  Happy days, just loved the way Byrom played, a youthful arrogance and Andy McEvoy was a goal machine (think he averaged a goal in every 2 games with Byrom not too far away from that either).

Edited September 18, 2022 by Mercer

[den]

1 minute ago, Mercer said:

and if I remember rightly, it was either John Byrom or Andy McEvoy who got our winner?  Happy days, just loved the way Byrom played, a youthful arrogance and Andy McEvoy was a goal machine (think he averaged a goal in every 2 games).

I was devastated when rovers sold Byrom. Didn’t understand it then and still don’t.

[Mercer]

4 minutes ago, den said:

I was devastated when rovers sold Byrom. Didn’t understand it then and still don’t.

Think it was following the season we got relegated after the polio epidemic ruined our season.

Think we was a highly intelligent and gifted footballer who never quite fulfilled his potential.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Dack is a silly boy.

[Sweaty Gussets]

4 hours ago, booth said:

Thanks for confirming that GB said that.

Yes, he said that Hirst was GB's and JDT's first choice. You're welcome. 

4 hours ago, booth said:

I don't disagree that JDT backed the signing, but as his first choice striker?  Do we really believe that?

He was being hyperbolic because he didn't have anyone better lined up.

Or he was first choice and you're just wrong? 🤷‍♂️

 

[Sweaty Gussets]

3 hours ago, Atko's Engine said:

Dare I point out that this could be construed as contradictory? That Dack requires a 5 game run in the side to prove his fitness, whereas JDT ought by now to have fully instilled his entire principles into the squad after a shortened pre-season, a run of 12 games in 7 weeks,

If you think that's contradictory and/or in any way a comparable situation, then we really are going to have to agree to disagree!

[jim mk2]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I remember his first against Liverpool at the Blackburn End in a 3-2 win after being 2-0 down ! Those were the days when we did comebacks. I was right behind the goals and he side footed it in like a rocket. 

What a match that was..... one of the most memorable games in 5 decades of watching

Liverpool fans weren't happy at the end 😀

[Sweaty Gussets]

2 hours ago, Atko's Engine said:

Without wanting to look like a stalker & bring this up again (!), I've just read the following quote from JDT after yesterday:

"I have said from the beginning that the November break will be very important for this team. I want to be on the pitch to get the chance to train on the pitch. It's a young and new group. After November, then I think you will see a more steady Blackburn, more consistent."

I think that's fair enough; by the end of the Jan transfer window, we should be achieving that consistency in his view.

Yep, that's fair enough. I'll look forward to some fast, intense, attacking football after the WC. Can't wait😉

[Congratulations]

Long time Luton fan here. I always have a quick read of opposition fans forums and I must say you lot are miles ahead (football educated, balanced, reasonable) v any of the other fans/sites in this division (including ours.. by a long way).. Respect and congratulations.  Oh and btw I agree that 1/ possession stats are irrelevant 2/ that tippy tappy shit in your own box is bonkers (especially when you are 2-0 down). 
Thanks for beating the scum and good luck for the season.

[joey_big_nose]

4 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

I don't see how he fits into the front 3 if we are going the front 3 like we did against Watford and Luton. Do you? 

I can see Dack and Gallagher going there in January transfer window. Maybe Ross Stewart from Sunderland coming here

of course, it's makes sense if JDT can't find a role for him. Plus, unless you were going to take off a centre back yesterday for Dack to come on I don't see who else you were going to take off for him to come on. 

The obvious move for me would have been to take one of Dolan or Hedges off and gone 352. We were getting nothing out of the wide forwards and getting nothing out of midfield, so changing that balance seemed the right thing to try.

                     Kaminski 

         Hyam.   Ayala.  Wharton

Brittain.  Travis.   Morton.   Pickering 

                         Dack

                Hirst.         Brereton

Still think we would have had a problem with Ayala making us sit too deep as well though....

Edited September 18, 2022 by joey_big_nose

[SuperBrfc]

3 hours ago, Atko's Engine said:

Without wanting to look like a stalker & bring this up again (!), I've just read the following quote from JDT after yesterday:

"I have said from the beginning that the November break will be very important for this team. I want to be on the pitch to get the chance to train on the pitch. It's a young and new group. After November, then I think you will see a more steady Blackburn, more consistent."

I think that's fair enough; by the end of the Jan transfer window, we should be achieving that consistency in his view.

Respectfully, Atko, he also said we would be stronger come the end of the window just gone. I wouldn't say that has transpired in the way that he said it would.

Personally, I'm not placing any importance on November. It's not like he's had no time to train the lads to date. In the same interview where that quote is from, Andy Bayes asked him whether he expects the ups and downs to settle down at some point and results to steady themselves. His response? He expects the ups and downs to go on for a long time and that this is normal. So which is it? We'll be better after November or that this will go on for a long time?

Don't forget, just days ago he said he's setting no expectation for this season. Why the heck not, is my question. This is Blackburn Rovers Football Club. Not some tinpot outfit where you can experiment to your heart's content and write off year after year. Like we haven't wasted 10 already.

He has also talked about his main focus being performances slowly becoming better. Is that not what Mowbray got slated for? When he called himself performance based, when he kept stressing performances were good despite results during those dismal runs of 2 wins in 15 (and 17). JDT is constantly saying "young side" too just like Mowbray, taking the pressure off himself, but nobody is mentioning it. Why?

I appreciate that you are trying to remain optimistic, Atko, but I can't help but feel you are missing clear warning signs that are there to see. I don't know if you saw yesterday's game, but it was pitiful, pathetic stuff and it isn't a one off. We lost against Sheff Utd, Reading, Bristol City and yesterday in the same manner. Bullied off the park, panicky, couldn't get a hold of the ball, men against boys, never looked like laying a glove on them.

There are more opponents of Luton's nature than Watford's in this league and unless something changes, there is plenty more of this to come, I feel. He's even preparing us for it by saying "this is normal" and referring to the players being young and the club losing experienced players. Again, Mowbray-esque! JDT is showing tactical naivety and stubbornness in games. There's little evidence of his famed style of play. Throw in the "project" and "young side" references, and it has to be asked, is he any better than Mowbray?

I know you won't agree, and that's fine, but we are in trouble, IMO. We all know what happened when Allardyce was sacked and was replaced by the odious one. We are now at a poundland level of that scenario in a division below (No, to clarify, JDT is not like Kean in any way), where getting Mowbray's replacement wrong might just send us down. Mowbray had to go, no question, but the club has messed up, IMO, for sure in appointing Broughton, and possibly JDT too.

[SuperBrfc]

5 hours ago, booth said:

Broughton said that, not JDT.

There's no way that George Hirst, a 23 year old loanee without a goal to his name in the Championship was JDT's first choice.

Absolutely. Broughton can say whatever he likes.

But there's no way a manager, who was a top striker in his day, who wanted Colak, who wanted Berget, who may have been interested in Birmancevic, would have looked at a non entity of a striker like Hirst and gone "yeah, that's the signing for me".

It's a signing that reflects the person behind it.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, jim mk2 said:

What a match that was..... one of the most memorable games in 5 decades of watching

Liverpool fans weren't happy at the end 😀

Tell me about it ! I was behind the goals at the Blackburn End. No segregation then. When the third goal went in a Rovers fan who was celebrating got head butted by a scouse guy right in front of me !

[jim mk2]

14 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Tell me about it ! I was behind the goals at the Blackburn End. No segregation then. When the third goal went in a Rovers fan who was celebrating got head butted by a scouse guy right in front of me !

 

I was in the Nuttall, towards the (away) Darwen End. They were throwing beer bottles, anything they could lay their hands on. Nice chaps

Great game, one of the best I've ever seen. 

[den]

24 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

 

I was in the Nuttall, towards the (away) Darwen End. They were throwing beer bottles, anything they could lay their hands on. Nice chaps

Great game, one of the best I've ever seen. 

I was there too. What year would that have been? 
 

edit, they were promoted to the top division in 1962. It was either that season or the next. My guess is ‘62. Wasn’t Jimmy Melia in that game?

Edited September 18, 2022 by den

[jim mk2]

4 minutes ago, den said:

I was there too. What year would that have been?

1964-5.