v Middlesbrough (h) - 29/12/22

[toogs]

2 hours ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

I am sorry - pointless having creative players on the pitch if you are being overrun. We needed fresh legs to close them down quicker.

And the result was a defeat. 

[Inferi]

35 minutes ago, arbitro said:

 We can moan about it until the cows come home but in law the referee was absolutely correct. The villain here is Buckley.

You forgot to answer the question.

[RTM08]

6 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Not really sure how you jump to that conclusion. Yes they scored early in the second half but no way we were dead and buried at that point. In fact the only stat Boro really came out on top on was they had more possession, oh and corners.

 

How many times this season have we managed to hold a team back if they have scored?

This team has no fight and it shows. Literally ZERO points this season after going behind.

[arbitro]

4 minutes ago, Inferi said:

You forgot to answer the question.

The referee (or assistant in this case) deemed it to be excessive. And it's their interpretation of that which counts. 

[MarkBRFC]

8 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Not really sure how you jump to that conclusion. Yes they scored early in the second half but no way we were dead and buried at that point. In fact the only stat Boro really came out on top on was they had more possession, oh and corners.

 

Just experience watching this side.

Not a chance we would have gone on to get the better of them after that, it's not what we do.

I make that 15 league games in a row now where we have gone behind and failed to even score a equaliser never mind get anything out of the game.

Most spineless team and manager we have had in over 30 years, and that's saying something.

[Dolly blue]

Wharton’s sulking is alleged, possible dressing room disharmony is alleged, Morton’s contract that he must play is alleged, Mowbray being interested in taking Dack and Buckley is alleged …

WHAT IS NOT ALLEGED IS….

…players wearing Rovers shirts who are not good enough , not brave enough, not disciplined enough ….

………..a “ management team “ who are embarrassingly short of the needs,  knowledge and demands  of Championship football 

….the guy Broughton making appalling late signings who he thinks are the way forward…Hirst,  Mola

We are no further forward than we were at the start, during or at the end of Mowbray’s journey …I look in envy at clubs with soul ….I really don’t know where we go from here.There was always going to be bumps in the road with this appointment…but it doesn’t matter how many bumps there are when we’re on the road to nowhere  ….

 

[dingles staying down 4ever]

12 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Not really sure how you jump to that conclusion. Yes they scored early in the second half but no way we were dead and buried at that point. In fact the only stat Boro really came out on top on was they had more possession, oh and corners.

 

errrr and they scored two to our one

[R0verb0y]

23 hours ago, Mercer said:

Think we first need to build a squad capable of getting there!

Six signings so far and only Hyam looks sound.  Brittain looks half decent but my God, looks one who'll make sure the treatment room is always occupied.

We don't want any more feckin 'journey' nonsense or 'I need 3 windows' stalling bullsh1t.

Said it time and time again, we need a manager who unequivocally says 'our objective is simple, to get us to the PL in the shortest space of time - no caveats - full stop'.

... and owners who accept that, with the privilege of owning Lancashire's Most Historic Football Club - and God knows what it must have cost them - surely goes the responsibility of providing the funds to get us back to where we were when they bought us. Otherwise, why did they buy us?

Apologies if others have already made the following points, but I'm doing my usual post-match trawl through a thread from start to finish.

The last 24 hours have been really strange for me. I'm a 76-year-old season ticket-holder who's been a diehard Rovers' fan since the first match I can remember my Dad bringing me to in November 1953.

So I've seen: the good, our times in Division 1/Premier League; the bad, a couple of relegation to Division 3/League 1; and the ugly, a team which doesn't seem full able to implement a Head Coach's strategy on the pitch.

Over the years, I've become mobility-impaired and don't drive any more so tend not to come to evening games. So, yesterday lunchtime, I confirmed to the pal I generally meet up with in the Riverside that I wouldn't be going to last night's game but that I'd see him on Sunday at the Cardiff game. I then carried about the usual jobs around the house for the rest of the day and, to my shame but not surprise, I completely forgot about the game until the - grimly predictable - result appeared on the television news.

It's the first time I ever remember that happening and I  remember thinking, "Typical bloody Rovers."

I've posted on here previously that I've bought into the concept of "the Project" which will take three or four transfer windows to come to fruition. But I’m afraid that the coaching and preparation for where we are now is beginning to seem inadequate.

As is, and I write this reluctantly, the quality of the current squad of players. For me the coming transfer window will be crucial. We HAVE to recruit some players capable of implementing what the Head Coach expects of them because the majority of the current squad seem uncomfortable with his expectations.

Our freakish sequence of results has had us in an unrealistic position in the table but I fear that a drastic slide to - excuse the cliché! - mid-table mediocrity is on the cards if we don't see next month recruitment of some players capable of implementing the Head Coach's strategy and the departure of some who never will be.

[tomphil]

55 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

I'd like to think it's Buckley's lack of discipline which won't go down well with the players.

Who do we have as leaders though who'll pull him into line ?

If he's going to grow up he needs standing in front of the mirror and to take responsibility himself because it's to his own detriment as well as the teams. He was having his best game in 12 months and may well have been looking at automatic selection again.

He shouldn't be now but imo too many excuses are now becoming readily available again from the top downwards. Shrug of the shoulders 'young team, inconsistency, part of the project'.

3 defeats in a week, 4 loses in the last 5 league games two of them horrific and the last two you could argue we should have got something but threw them away.

Not good enough.

[superniko]

48 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

I can't see any larger club being interested in a Big Time Charlie who at the age of 18 thinks he can challenge the authority of the manager.

😂😂😂 thank god you don’t work in any football recruitment department then 

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, Paul Mani said:

If they do finish above us (which they should) , then it’s probably more likely to do with the £50m difference in annual budget, rather than the point they changed manager.

I watched Norwich a few times late in Smith's time there. It looked like he had lost the players so the forthcoming improvement will be due to changing manager.

They will finish top 6. We will not.

Just being realistic.

[BankEnd Rover]

9 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Who do we have as leaders though who'll pull him into line ?

If he's going to grow up he needs standing in front of the mirror and to take responsibility himself because it's to his own detriment as well as the teams. He was having his best game in 12 months and may well have been looking at automatic selection again.

He shouldn't be now but imo too many excuses are now becoming readily available again from the top downwards. Shrug of the shoulders 'young team, inconsistency, part of the project'.

3 defeats in a week, 4 loses in the last 5 league games two of them horrific and the last two you could argue we should have got something but threw them away.

Not good enough.

Yeap, I think we will really miss Buckleys vision in these next few games and it could really be the difference in results.
Really not looking forward to the return of Travis….Travis couldn’t pick a pass more than 20 years an away to save his life. That’s where 90% of our good play last night came from. Really worried about the Cardiff game, even with their horrific away form.

Edited December 30, 2022 by BankEnd Rover

[Athlete]

2 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

I watched Norwich a few times late in Smith's time there. It looked like he had lost the players so the forthcoming improvement will be due to changing manager.

They will finish top 6. We will not.

Just being realistic.

JDT seems to have lost the dressing room months back

[M_B]

The performances over the last three games have definitely improved, helped by playing the better players and a consistent line up. 

As for results, the main difference between earlier in the season and now is the finishing, or lack of it. Morton has to score at Sunderland, if he does, we're probably 3 points better off. 

Off the pitch we need a rallying call, not a white flag 

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

56 minutes ago, dingles staying down 4ever said:

People questioning the officials over the sending off should remember that it is just stupid and unprofessional to give a ref a decision to make.

If Adam W is sulking about a managerial decision then again it is unprofessional.

I could go on about unprofessional things at this club an they should be dealt with by the management but as the biggest crime of being unprofessional is not changing tactics when it is clear they arent working there is little chance.

A quick question - were the tactics last night, mixing short passes with long balls, typical of what had gone before ? Last night was different - and at times effective. The only time we went a bit suicidal at the back was when down to 10 men - prior to that we was playing it through the lines well.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Performances have improved?...yeh,just a touch over mediocre!

[rigger]

56 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Not really sure how you jump to that conclusion. Yes they scored early in the second half but no way we were dead and buried at that point. In fact the only stat Boro really came out on top on was they had more possession, oh and corners.

 

Oh and more goals and more men on the pitch.

[Hasta]

1 hour ago, arbitro said:

 We can moan about it until the cows come home but in law the referee was absolutely correct. The villain here is Buckley.

I completely accept Buckley was ultra-numb to put himself in that potential situation. 

I accept that. What I don’t like is the fact that in practically any game you watch there will be pushing and a square up. That also is violent conduct and the referee would be correct to show a red card there. When Kaminsky held the ball at Norwich and the incident with the ball boy happened, there were players two handed pushing each other there. That should be a red every time. Remember the Kevin Ball tackle on Dunny? Flitcrofts response is a red card every day of the week. 

If the ref had spoken to, or booked Buckley, nobody would have raised an eyebrow at his leniency. Not even the referees adjudicator or whatever they are called. The ref had an option and he has chosen to give a red. In doing so he ruined the game as a spectacle for thousands of paying fans. 

“But it’s in the rule book” will be the response.
Well yes it probably is, although not sure whether is falls under “excessive force” which the twitterati are saying it needs to in order to be a straight red ( @arbitro is that the rule?).  But all those holds and grapples which happen at every corner should be penalties according to the rule book. When a defender is letting the ball run out of play, and steps 6 feet away from the ball and barges the striker away is a foul in the rule book. . Every throw which is taken 10 yards from the correct place is against the rules. But in those situation refs decide that’s not really the done thing and ignore it.

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Hasta

[JohnD]

3 minutes ago, M_B said:

Off the pitch we need a rallying call, not a white flag 

There are white flags throughout this set up, non playing and playing staff.

I can't recall any other team throughout my 60 odd years that needs so much coaching during a match. Players coming on with written messages, running to the dug out at every opportunity to get instructions etc.

They really don't know what they're doing!!

[TheWeasel]

First half last night was pretty good, best we've played for a while (not saying much). Buckley was moronic but not deserving of a red card though. 

We had the unbeatable record when being a goal up, but now we've lost two on the bounce after being 1 up. So my worry now is the team can fall into the bottling mentality they had under mowbray when we had a ridiculous habit of snatching draws and defeat from the jaws of victory with last minute goals from opposition.

I've also noticed when attending games recently, there doesn't seem to be as much communication amongst players as there was earlier in the season. Think the only ones that have been are Ayala and Hyam. Hope Hyam takes over as club captain from Travis.

 

[Athlete]

4 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

A quick question - were the tactics last night, mixing short passes with long balls, typical of what had gone before ? Last night was different - and at times effective. The only time we went a bit suicidal at the back was when down to 10 men - prior to that we was playing it through the lines well.

Tacticlly both us and boro seemed to do exactly same mess about short passing at the back ie put yourselfs under pressure then a few long punts ..if a neutral was watching that hed say both were mid table teams

[Ossydave]

43 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

Just experience watching this side.

Not a chance we would have gone on to get the better of them after that, it's not what we do.

I make that 15 league games in a row now where we have gone behind and failed to even score a equaliser never mind get anything out of the game.

Most spineless team and manager we have had in over 30 years, and that's saying something.

I'm not even pro JDT at this stage but last night they pretty much held their own second half when they could easily have been battered after going down to 10.

The game plan was working, we were practically going toe to toe 4-2-4 with Boro and we were edging it. The tactics went completely out the window after the red and we switched to 4-4-1. It nullified Boro for the most part, their goal aside, which in fairness was a good goal. What it also did was destroy our attacking impetus. The lack of a plan B or willingness to adapt continues to be a massive flaw for JDT.

Whether it was a red card or not is up for debate, what's unquestionable though is that the red card ultimately changed the game.

[Hasta]

2 minutes ago, TheWeasel said:

First half last night was pretty good, best we've played for a while (not saying much).

In all the talk of the red nobody has really mentioned this. But the reason we looked so much better is because we’d mix it up and go long and turn their defence. It seems you don’t actually need a 6ft4 target man who can hold the ball up if you want to play a different way than tippy tappy.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

11 hours ago, Reginald said:

So you think we should be decisive by sacking a manager that by, your own implicit admission, is currently exceeding pre-season expectations?

We are exceeding my expectations regarding our league position. However I was hoping to see a bit of cut and thrust football and an exciting team now and again. In that respect we are underachieving.

[MarkBRFC]

3 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

I'm not even pro JDT at this stage but last night they pretty much held their own second half when they could easily have been battered after going down to 10.

The game plan was working, we were practically going toe to toe 4-2-4 with Boro and we were edging it. The tactics went completely out the window after the red and we switched to 4-4-1. It nullified Boro for the most part, their goal aside, which in fairness was a good goal. What it also did was destroy our attacking impetus. The lack of a plan B or willingness to adapt continues to be a massive flaw for JDT.

Whether it was a red card or not is up for debate, what's unquestionable though is that the red card ultimately changed the game.

I think Boro were in complete control after going ahead to be honest. They could have killed us off if they wanted but if they had done there homework on us, then they would have known that as soon as your in front against us you just have to see the game out and not do anything daft. Preserve some energy for there game on Sunday.

It was a decent first half, but that was undone within 30 seconds of the second half. And experience tells me that only one side would have won the game from there and it certainly wouldn't have been us even if Buckley hadn't been sent off.