v Cardiff City (h) - 1/1/23

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, MarkBRFC said:

Since venkys came through the door, the main goal at this club hasn't been to win football matches, and it never will be.

Sadly I only really cottoned on to that two years into Mowbray's reign.

Just why would you throw 15 million + per year at a club then almost discourage it from genuinely trying for promotion when the opportunity presents itself ?

There's either a lack or urgency because they aren't bothered and are happy to use the club for accounting/money pit purposes. Or there is just a complete lack of genuine ambition from those in the middle running it because their wages are guaranteed whatever.

[Silas]

55 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

You’ve highlighted two points to fit your agenda. My points still stand, we have played some awful stuff & I mean awful i admit….However as I’ve explained I’m happy to wait for a full transfer window with a new DOF & Manager to judge the “project”. Sorry I’m not as impatient as many, I’ve been supporting rovers since 1991 BTW. 

Why does it always have to be about agendas and 'sides'.

I'm with you, I agree JDT needs fair time to put things in place before being judged.

But I can also understand why some fans would be very frustrated with the way things are going at the moment. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

25 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Just why would you throw 15 million + per year at a club then almost discourage it from genuinely trying for promotion when the opportunity presents itself ?

There's either a lack or urgency because they aren't bothered and are happy to use the club for accounting/money pit purposes. Or there is just a complete lack of genuine ambition from those in the middle running it because their wages are guaranteed whatever.

Or both.

[Hasta]

Back to the game, I think we will win this as it’s one of the easiest games on paper of the season. We showed enough at Norwich and in the first half against Boro to give me hope.  And, crucially, Cardiff will come with a negative game plan so won’t press us high. 

[Mike E]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

weak midfield with no holding midfield and we will get outnumbered in midfield and Cardiff will play with 1 striker so do you really need 3 centre backs?

 

Our best results have come with the resilience of a back 3.

Correct, no holding midfield, but our only holding midfielders are either well out of form (Travis) or naive (Garrett). Imo, that means we should prioritise creativity for a more attacking game.

I'd also argue that if you think Dack and Wharton aren't capable of putting tackles in, you've not been watching them.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

1 hour ago, BankEnd Rover said:

The game was at 1-1 when the red card was given…then it went to 2-1? How does the red card not play a factor? Especially when it was one of our best players who went…
 

Agreed, Dack has been great, however the manager has clearly stated it was about his fitness…The subs were right on the night anyway…otherwise we’d of been over run & probably conceded more goals.  …Morton was terrible & Dack isn’t exactly the best & quickest at tracking back….(cue someone say Garrett & Travis were No bEtTeR)…aye I agree with you…they were sh*te and I hope we have a better duo tomorrow.

If you cant see that the game was already slipping as Boro had changed tactics then Im sorry but the red card was not the only changing factor hence the frustations including John Buckley's

[BankEnd Rover]

1 hour ago, Silas said:

Why does it always have to be about agendas and 'sides'.

I'm with you, I agree JDT needs fair time to put things in place before being judged.

But I can also understand why some fans would be very frustrated with the way things are going at the moment. 

 

we are playing awful stuff which fans will get frustrated with however as bad as it looks, no one should be wanting JDT removed until we’ve had a full transfer window….I’m not directing the latter at you but there are some posters who want him gone….it’s mental…

Edited December 31, 2022 by BankEnd Rover

[Ossydave]

1 hour ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Thank you Ossy….JDT has the players he has. Not his fault his options are Travis & & Academy player. 

The go to answer when it was tough against Wigan etc was to just shout get dack on. I do believe he's looking a lot sharper lately tbf,  our our fans don't half scramble about for excuses and reasoning sometimes though

[chaddyrovers]

33 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Our best results have come with the resilience of a back 3.

Correct, no holding midfield, but our only holding midfielders are either well out of form (Travis) or naive (Garrett). Imo, that means we should prioritise creativity for a more attacking game.

I'd also argue that if you think Dack and Wharton aren't capable of putting tackles in, you've not been watching them.

I could argue that our best results have come with back 4 like Swansea away, Blackpool away, Norwich away. 

For me, you midfield would be wide open and no holding midfield. Also Dack hasn't got the legs to play in midfield 2. He is number 10 or not

[Atko's Engine]

6 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

i think it`s the fact the football is terrible,the worst since the end of the mackay era and/or  the kean shambles,at least with mowbray you got a couple of good performances after 5 bad ones

Short memory here, the death spirals under Mowbray were so named for a reason!

I get the frustration of the last few games, but overall this squad & backroom team, given the challenging situation that existed when JDT walked through the door, have exceeded expectations, have they not? It's not fair to say that all the wins are fortunate and the defeats well deserved.

No team has been promoted or relegated on 1st Jan. JDT has a huge task on his hands and won't get everything right, nor will he turn us into the perfect team in a few months. The club is working with a budget of peanuts behind the scenes.

A bit of a reality check is needed. Someone mentioned tomorrow being a must win game, why put that much pressure on a match on New Year's Day??

I'm gonna confidently predict a win. Would be nice to see both Whartons start,and Markanday get a run out too to see what he can do, but whatever happens tomorrow I do believe that JDT has more of a clue what he is trying to achieve than most people seem willing to give him credit for.

 

[Hasta]

1 hour ago, dingles staying down 4ever said:

If you cant see that the game was already slipping as Boro had changed tactics then Im sorry but the red card was not the only changing factor hence the frustations including John Buckley's

Disagree. They scored straight from kick off. Then the only noticeable bit of play was when we had the chance where Brereton squared for Gallagher who couldn’t get it past the keeper at close range. Then the sending off happened. 
 

I suspect they might have changed tactics and got on top second half without the sending off, but there was nothing in the 4 minutes after the goal which showed us that. The sending off massively altered the dynamic.

[booth]

1 hour ago, Atko's Engine said:

A bit of a reality check is needed. Someone mentioned tomorrow being a must win game, why put that much pressure on a match on New Year's Day??

Yes I did, and I thought I explained why in the post.

We're playing an out of form Cardiff, the current run is becoming close to a TM spiral and if you look at the table there's not many points between us and 15th place.

[Atko's Engine]

1 hour ago, booth said:

Yes I did, and I thought I explained why in the post.

We're playing an out of form Cardiff, the current run is becoming close to a TM spiral and if you look at the table there's not many points between us and 15th place.

That doesn't make it a must win game though; to say it does is hyperbolic in the extreme & unnecessarily adds pressure to a situation which is far from as dire as some would have us believe.

Anyway, Happy New Year all the same! 🙂🎆

[RoversTilliDie]

We were unlucky against Sunderland, conceded in injury time, and we were robbed against Boro. They equalized but Rovers were the better team and I thought we would go on to win it until that ridiculous sending off of Buckley. The main thing for Rovers is keep your heads up dont panic and play football the way we know this team can, and I'm sure theres light at the end of the tunnel in this losing run.

[roverandout]

19 minutes ago, RoversTilliDie said:

We were unlucky against Sunderland, conceded in injury time, and we were robbed against Boro. They equalized but Rovers were the better team and I thought we would go on to win it until that ridiculous sending off of Buckley. The main thing for Rovers is keep your heads up dont panic and play football the way we know this team can, and I'm sure theres light at the end of the tunnel in this losing run.

We were awful at Sunderland.  And poor in the second half against boro 

[Sparks Rover]

4 minutes ago, roverandout said:

We were awful at Sunderland.  And poor in the second half against boro 

I think the first half v Boro is being glossed over, I remember Boro spending a lot of time in and around our box.  Couple of poor final balls got us out of trouble.  The lad Magree ran us ragged, liked him

[only2garners]

5 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

I think the first half v Boro is being glossed over, I remember Boro spending a lot of time in and around our box.  Couple of poor final balls got us out of trouble.  The lad Magree ran us ragged, liked him

McGree started the game very impressively. Borough looked very sharp in the first 5 minutes but our goal set them back a bit. I thought Rovers gradually became the dominant side in the first half and only a couple of defensive mistakes gave them chances they messed up. One factor is that Rankin-Costello started man marking McGree and played him out of the game for the last 30 minutes of the half.

After the equaliser and us going down to 10 men we couldn’t afford to have JRC marking McGree and he became more dangerous again.

Dark’s substitution was because he can’t play central midfield especially in a team down to 10. I guess an alternative would have been to take off either Diaz or Gallagher and put him up front but if there is a concern about his stamina then the last thing you need with only 10 is one of them knackered.

[Mercer]

Want to see some real desire and passion from us.

The local lads, the Whartons, would help with this.

Markanday also needs to be given a real shot at it.  For feck's sake if Hirst is deemed good enough to get time out there on the grass............!!!!!!!!

Disagree with Atko's Engine - think this is a must win game.  The fans are owed big time after all the recent sh1te and capitulations.  Another poor show and loss and I think fans will turn on JDT

 

@Atko's Engine

Edited January 1, 2023 by Mercer

[Paul Mani]

8 hours ago, Atko's Engine said:

Short memory here, the death spirals under Mowbray were so named for a reason!

I get the frustration of the last few games, but overall this squad & backroom team, given the challenging situation that existed when JDT walked through the door, have exceeded expectations, have they not? It's not fair to say that all the wins are fortunate and the defeats well deserved.

No team has been promoted or relegated on 1st Jan. JDT has a huge task on his hands and won't get everything right, nor will he turn us into the perfect team in a few months. The club is working with a budget of peanuts behind the scenes.

A bit of a reality check is needed. Someone mentioned tomorrow being a must win game, why put that much pressure on a match on New Year's Day??

I'm gonna confidently predict a win. Would be nice to see both Whartons start,and Markanday get a run out too to see what he can do, but whatever happens tomorrow I do believe that JDT has more of a clue what he is trying to achieve than most people seem willing to give him credit for.

 

Excellent post, finally some balance!

Happy new year guys 💙

[AllRoverAsia]

Is Jan 2st now "White Flag Day"?

It's not a must win game ... well not if you're happy with finishing the season 7th or lower or find it ok to finish 30 points behind Burnley as reasonably predicted by a Dingle poster on here.

I can only assume that those who don't play to win don't play.

[Doogs]

To be honest lost all hope under this manager...Lost interest as well, as the football under him has bored me senseles. Playing 11 reserves against Forrest finished me off. What did he gain resting players? They lost the next game..

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Doogs said:

To be honest lost all hope under this manager...Lost interest as well, as the football under him has bored me senseles. Playing 11 reserves against Forrest finished me off. What did he gain resting players? They lost the next game..

Actually I don't think it was a question of 'resting' players against Forest, but more one of acknowledging the players who had got us to that stage of the competition. Of course, the relatively shallow pool of players we can select from meant that there were berths for regular first team contributors too, but my view was fair play to JDT for seeking to reward the squad that had taken us to the last 16 in the Carabao.

Back to today, and I think we are all somewhat anxious about the implications of a poor result. Football is a confidence game, and it can't be good for squad morale to be on a negative run like we have had. The first half against Boro showed there is enough in the team to mix it up and go toe to toe with form teams, and we showed ample ability to create chances, just not enough resolve in putting them away.

So, we go into today's 'must win' (sic) fixture as fans with much trepidation - 18th in the 'form guides' versus 21st for Cardiff (according to https://thefishy.co.uk/formtable.php?table=2 and https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/championship/form-guide ). Perhaps that gives us a little bit of an edge in the division's 'tallest dwarf competition generously sponsored by some management Cretin at Sky Sports', perhaps not. However, on form alone, a) we are due a win b) we have our noses in front of the opposition and c) we are on home turf with potentially the same atmosphere as the games played behind closed doors during lockdown (i.e. there won't be many there to get on players' backs).

Come on people - there is lots to look forward to. A couple of wins and JDT will be back in equilibrium and all will be rosy. A defeat today would be tough to stomach, but many of us will be able to just roll over and sleep it off, ready for the real uphill struggle ahead.

No need to panic just yet, even if our recent form allowed my neighbour (a lifelong Burnleh fan) to pontificate and gaslight me last evening about the 'annual death spiral that Rovers go into at this time of year' - I'd love to be able to gaslight him back in mid March when we play the six fingered ones at Ewood, having gone on a spectacular winning run STARTING TODAY!

COYB!

& a Happy New Year to all!

[RoversTilliDie]

4 hours ago, Mercer said:

Want to see some real desire and passion from us.

The local lads, the Whartons, would help with this.

Markanday also needs to be given a real shot at it.  For feck's sake if Hirst is deemed good enough to get time out there on the grass............!!!!!!!!

Disagree with Atko's Engine - think this is a must win game.  The fans are owed big time after all the recent sh1te and capitulations.  Another poor show and loss and I think fans will turn on JDT

 

@Atko's Engine

I agree, the supporters (fans are armchair followers) that follow Rovers through thick and thin deserve 200% from this game. Don't forget we lost to Cardiff earlier in the season. I am hoping for a repeat of last season when the two sides met at Ewood 5-1 to Rovers, it was a joy to watch.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

WE FANS WANT THREE POINTS TODAY MR TOMASSON...NOT EXCUSES!

[RoversTilliDie]

Cardiff have drawn their last four matches and have'nt won a game for 8 matches. If Rovers don't bounce back and win this one in style, the supporters are going to turn against them.