v Birmingham City (a) - 1/4/23

[cesus]

1 minute ago, Hasta said:

Agree on the CF, and thus the Dack issue raises its head again. We put numerous low crosses in that either went to the keeper or got cut out . Gallagher is nowhere near them. Dack comes on and makes 1 good run and has a shot in the box, then ends up with another chance reacting to a rebound. Other than Dack, there is a serious lack of striking instinct in this squad. 
 

Dack back is absolutely massive, you just know he will score in the next 2/3 games. His ability to nick goals is probably our best chance of making the play offs. I honestly think he is that important.

[yankfan]

Games like this scream out our need for a true center forward. If we had a true goal scorer would have won 3-1. Morton should be dropped but not sure for who?  Garrett possibly, A. Wharton but both very green for final push. Too bad Bucko is out. 

[Sweaty Gussets]

2 minutes ago, martonrover said:

I blame Mercer. Can't afford an Easter Egg now.

He'll still be up on his bets...somehow. 

[BigBar]

3 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

A team in 6th, by definition, does not have a midfield that has 'let it down all season'. 

What definition you on about? You making one up? Stop using inverted commas, I'm aware of what I said.

John Buckley 0 goals 1 assist

Tyler Morton 0 goals 2 assist

Lewis Travis 2 goals 1 assist.

We've been carried by a decent defence/ goalkeeper and good attackers. Midfield ranks last. Not good enough.

 

[yankfan]

14 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I do wonder what Garrett and A. Wharton do in training, because when I've seen them play for the First XI they're light years better than Morton. 

Their contacts don’t have match time guarantees. 

[joey_big_nose]

Just now, Hasta said:

Agree on the CF, and thus the Dack issue raises its head again. We put numerous low crosses in that either went to the keeper or got cut out . Gallagher is nowhere near them. Dack comes on and makes 1 good run and has a shot in the box, then ends up with another chance reacting to a rebound. Other than Dack, there is a serious lack of striking instinct in this squad. 
 

I like Szmodics also, he gets in the right places normally (not such a good game today though). But like Dack he is not a centre forward, and can't expect to be the focal point. Really if we stuck a championship forward at the top of the team we would get promoted automatically or run it very close. 

In the summer finding two top strikers is the absolute critical priority, I think JDT knows it. Think I trust him and Broughton to find them too,

[roversfan99]

To be fair, I don't have total faith in Broughton to bring in a good one. The first choice last summer was apparently Hirst and then he fucked it up in January too. Lets hope for third time lucky.

[Exiled_Rover]

Just now, roversfan99 said:

To be fair, I don't have total faith in Broughton to bring in a good one. The first choice last summer was apparently Hirst and then he fucked it up in January too. Lets hope for third time lucky.

I think Hirst and Mola were last minute punts on once highly thought of England junior internationals. Neither worked out, obviously, but we were pressed for time.

[Penwortham Blue]

Really disappointing result but sadly, one I was expecting. The real issue is that we just can’t come back from going behind and there is just so little goal threat from Gallagher / Dolan. O’Brien for Morton and a decent CF in the January window and we would have won that game. What I like about Khadra is that he isn’t afraid to have a shot from anywhere, something that we just never seem brave enough to do ☹️

[Sweaty Gussets]

Just now, BigBar said:

What definition you on about? You making one up? Stop using inverted commas, I'm aware of what I said.

John Buckley 0 goals 1 assist

Tyler Morton 0 goals 2 assist

Lewis Travis 2 goals 1 assist.

We've been carried by a decent defence/ goalkeeper and good attackers. Midfield ranks last. Not good enough.

 

'Midfield ranks last'. On what metric?

Good attackers? Check the goals and assists for our front 4. Quoting what are essentially sitting midfielders for goals/assists when our No.9 gets regularly lambasted cos he can't hit a cow's arse with a banjo is a bit strange.

We missed chances again today. It wasn't the midfield missing them. 

 

[RevidgeBlue]

2 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

I like Szmodics also, he gets in the right places normally (not such a good game today though). But like Dack he is not a centre forward, and can't expect to be the focal point. Really if we stuck a championship forward at the top of the team we would get promoted automatically or run it very close. 

In the summer finding two top strikers is the absolute critical priority, I think JDT knows it. Think I trust him and Broughton to find them too,

Why do you trust Broughton to bring in 2 decent strikers in the summer? He hasn't brought in a single decent one in his first two windows.

[Sweaty Gussets]

3 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Why do you trust Broughton to bring in 2 decent strikers in the summer? He hasn't brought in a single decent one in his first two windows.

Hirst scored again today. Lad's on fire!

[yankfan]

2 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

I like Szmodics also, he gets in the right places normally (not such a good game today though). But like Dack he is not a centre forward, and can't expect to be the focal point. Really if we stuck a championship forward at the top of the team we would get promoted automatically or run it very close. 

In the summer finding two top strikers is the absolute critical priority, I think JDT knows it. Think I trust him and Broughton to find them too,

Had the Undav deal not fallen through, I have imagine we’d be pushing for top2 

[BigBar]

2 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

'Midfield ranks last'. On what metric?

Good attackers? Check the goals and assists for our front 4. Quoting what are essentially sitting midfielders for goals/assists when our No.9 gets regularly lambasted cos he can't hit a cow's arse with a banjo is a bit strange.

We missed chances again today. It wasn't the midfield missing them. 

 

It's glaringly obvious. That midfield is the weakest area of the pitch but you are more interested in childish grudges to actually want a civil debate. Always make it your business to try pick holes in people's comments who have somehow upset you with their views. BBD, Gally, Dolan and SS have all stepped up at times this season. Buckley and Morton and Trav to an extent have had very poor seasons. It's the core of your team and they have been bullied more often than not.

[yankfan]

5 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

'Midfield ranks last'. On what metric?

Good attackers? Check the goals and assists for our front 4. Quoting what are essentially sitting midfielders for goals/assists when our No.9 gets regularly lambasted cos he can't hit a cow's arse with a banjo is a bit strange.

We missed chances again today. It wasn't the midfield missing them. 

 

A bit harsh on those 3.  The way we’re set up, all three play deeper roles. 

[Miller11]

Criminal how Morton has played 90 odd minutes there. I maintain my wish to see him dropped from the squad after Sheff United was anything but knee jerk, he frequently underperforms and costs us. His backing out is very costly - it led to Travis getting booked today which completely nullified him. A handful of intelligent forward passes per game, which have about a 40% success rate is all he brings to the table.

I sometimes thing Gallagher gets an undue amount of stick, but he was completely useless today. Literally zero positive contribution and he surely only finished the game due to a lack of options. Time for Leonard to get some minutes from the bench.

If we’d made the first two changes before going a goal down it may have been a different story. They were more than happy to hold on to the 1-0 and did a very good job of nullifying the threat of our wide players. As it was Thomas had his worst showing in Rovers colours.

Pears repaid the managers faith, Carter was excellent again. JRC with another strong performance, he was doing the job of several players and we lost an outlet when he went off.

Results could’ve been a lot worse for us. A draw would’ve been very handy. Luton the big winners today and they look nailed on for a playoff spot.

[BlackburnEnd75]

The problem we've got is that the 2 players that need to be dropped don't have replacements.

Gally needs dropping but we don't have another striker fit and JDT doesn't want to try Brereton there. Gally was completely anonymous today, didn't show the willingness he has done last few games. 

Morton also needs dropping. But we need a technical midfielder who can take the ball of the centre backs, it's the vital role in that midfield. Travis can't play that role, Garrett isn't good enough on the ball to do that. Buckley is out injured and hopefully could get back if we made the playoff ls but I think I'm being overly optimistic. Adam Wharton is the obvious suggestion but doesn't seem to have been in favour since his injury.

 

 

[Sweaty Gussets]

Just now, BigBar said:

It's glaringly obvious. That midfield is the weakest area of the pitch but you are more interested in childish grudges to actually want a civil debate. Always make it your business to try pick holes in people's comments who have somehow upset you with their views. BBD, Gally, Dolan and SS have all stepped up at times this season. Buckley and Morton and Trav to an extent have had very poor seasons. It's the core of your team and they have been bullied more often than not.

I'll leave you alone. You always make it personal. You can't cope with debate. 

Have a good evening.  

[Sparks Rover]

12 minutes ago, BigBar said:

What definition you on about? You making one up? Stop using inverted commas, I'm aware of what I said.

John Buckley 0 goals 1 assist

Tyler Morton 0 goals 2 assist

Lewis Travis 2 goals 1 assist.

We've been carried by a decent defence/ goalkeeper and good attackers. Midfield ranks last. Not good enough.

 

Yep, a look over to Deepdale and you would see the type of midfielder we need.  Not this little scraggy shite scouser.

[Sweaty Gussets]

1 minute ago, yankfan said:

A bit harsh on those 3.  The way we’re set up, all three play deeper roles. 

Which 3?

[Exiled_Rover]

1 minute ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

The problem we've got is that the 2 players that need to be dropped don't have replacements.

Gally needs dropping but we don't have another striker fit and JDT doesn't want to try Brereton there. Gally was completely anonymous today, didn't show the willingness he has done last few games. 

Morton also needs dropping. But we need a technical midfielder who can take the ball of the centre backs, it's the vital role in that midfield. Travis can't play that role, Garrett isn't good enough on the ball to do that. Buckley is out injured and hopefully could get back if we made the playoff ls but I think I'm being overly optimistic. Adam Wharton is the obvious suggestion but doesn't seem to have been in favour since his injury.

 

 

Morton can't play that role either - he simply gives the ball back to the CB, playing them into trouble. 

Garrett is much, much better than people give him credit for. 

[RevidgeBlue]

Poor from the manager for the second week running for me - if you're starting Gallagher and leaving your most effective striker on the bench you're not really that interested in winning the game or making the play offs in my book.

Dumped out of the Cup last week after winning with 10 mins to go, beaten today, this has all the hallmarks of another spectacular collapse/bottle job at the business end to put alongside the one that happened over a longer period last season

[Hasta]

Just now, Sparks Rover said:

Yep, a look over to Deepdale and you would see the type of midfielder we need.  Not this little scraggy shite scouser.

As much as I want to say “oh fuck off Sparks”, he was actually excellent in the first half I watched against Blackpool today.

[yankfan]

Just now, BigBar said:

It's glaringly obvious. That midfield is the weakest area of the pitch but you are more interested in childish grudges to actually want a civil debate. Always make it your business to try pick holes in people's comments who have somehow upset you with their views. BBD, Gally, Dolan and SS have all stepped up at times this season. Buckley and Morton and Trav to an extent have had very poor seasons. It's the core of your team and they have been bullied more often than not.

I think the 2 midfielders are asked a lot in this system, often out numbered and really forced to play deeper, win the ball and distribute wide. Goals and assists aren’t really a major part of their roles. Both centroids seem to be asked play more like a 6 than a 6 and an 8. 

[Sweaty Gussets]

1 minute ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Morton can't play that role either - he simply gives the ball back to the CB, playing them into trouble. 

Garrett is much, much better than people give him credit for. 

JDT commented on his training not being up to scratch a few weeks ago. Otherwise, there is a real case for playing him, especially away from home.