v Coventry (h) 19/4/23 @ 19:45

[Blow-in]

2 hours ago, superniko said:

We're 21st for shots per game (only Reading, Huddersfield and Rotherham have less), but 6th for most possession per game (Burnley, Swansea - lol, Norwich, Boro and West Brom having more).

"Have a bloody shot!" - we scream

 

Not much point having a shot from 80 yards, they hardly ever go in.

[rigger]

4 minutes ago, Blow-in said:

Not much point having a shot from 80 yards, they hardly ever go in.

If you don't shoot, from whatever distance, they never go in.

[windymiller7]

10 minutes ago, rigger said:

If you don't shoot, from whatever distance, they never go in.

Travis is the one who annoys me the most with this. At the beginning of the season he scored a couple of great goals and also another at the end of last season at Dumpdale. Yet lately he seems to want to do anything but shoot. There were at least 2 or 3 occasions on Sat when he could've pulled the trigger but didn't.

If it ends up in row Z then fair enough, but it could also fly into the top corner. If you don't buy a ticket, you don't win the lottery.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, pk1875 said:

I think we will surprise a few and beat Coventry, and go on to secure a top six finish.... 

That said I don't give us a hope of going up, and probably be better if we don't. The lads need to secure top 6 and use the experience to kick on next season.

 

Its the hope that kills you

I can't fathom how it would be anything but totally beneficial to go up.

We would be up against it to stay up, but it would be a huge boost to get promotion both on and off the pitch.

It could potentially increase our match going fan base, it would massively improve our finances and would give us an opportunity to sign some players that even if we did come back down, they would be huge improvements on what we currently have.

It would break this psychological feeling that we will never return to the Premier League, or even get close. 

And of course, it wouldn't be impossible to stay up, there are some poor teams at the bottom of the Premier League. Big if, but manage the summer right and maybe we can have a right good go at staying in the league. If not, we should have a top Championship squad ready to bounce back. We go from Championship also rans to a team expecting to get back into the Premier League.

The idea of kicking on next season doesn't really tally up IMO. Our only goalscorer will be leaving for free and we will be scrounging around for freebies and loanees, this slow build idea doesn't really work.

[joey_big_nose]

5 hours ago, Sparks Rover said:

Yes, but the midfield is weak as piss too

I just really disagree with this. If that was the case we wouldnt be controlling the centre of the pitch as we consistently have. Our biggest issue is finishing and anticipation in the final third by a country mile, while the lack of pace at the back to handle counter attacks is a significant concern. But winning and controlling the ball in the middle third just hasn't been an issue.

[1874]

U18s W8 D1 L14 -19GD (Most defeats in league)

U21 W8 D2 L14 -10GD (Most defeats in league)

First W19 D6 L16 -2GD (Most defeats in top half)

The main reason I believe for this is the two man midfield system

[neophox]

Is it a surprise to beat Coventry? I would say we should beat them.... Hopefully Hyam is fired up for this....

[tomphil]

39 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I can't fathom how it would be anything but totally beneficial to go up.

We would be up against it to stay up, but it would be a huge boost to get promotion both on and off the pitch.

It could potentially increase our match going fan base, it would massively improve our finances and would give us an opportunity to sign some players that even if we did come back down, they would be huge improvements on what we currently have.

It would break this psychological feeling that we will never return to the Premier League, or even get close. 

And of course, it wouldn't be impossible to stay up, there are some poor teams at the bottom of the Premier League. Big if, but manage the summer right and maybe we can have a right good go at staying in the league. If not, we should have a top Championship squad ready to bounce back. We go from Championship also rans to a team expecting to get back into the Premier League.

The idea of kicking on next season doesn't really tally up IMO. Our only goalscorer will be leaving for free and we will be scrounging around for freebies and loanees, this slow build idea doesn't really work.

Lost count of the times iv'e read comments along the lines of it's ok with don't make the play offs because we aren't ready we'd have taken 8th or 9th at the start.

Such defeatist weak mentality nonsense it's vital we bust a gut to finish as high as possible for any number of sane reasons. If we were spending decent budgets and clearly building to aim for automatics it would hold some weight.  As it is it doesn't at all we need to grasp the opportunities we make for ourselves whilst they are there.

It seems over a decade stagnating in this league hasn't registered in some places.

[NeilInBristol]

5 hours ago, superniko said:

We're 21st for shots per game (only Reading, Huddersfield and Rotherham have less), but 6th for most possession per game (Burnley, Swansea - lol, Norwich, Boro and West Brom having more).

"Have a bloody shot!" - we scream

 

Yes but how many of those 21 shots were on target? No point shooting at the corner flag and counting that as a shot for our stats 

[jim mk2]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

I

The idea of kicking on next season doesn't really tally up IMO. Our only goalscorer will be leaving for free and we will be scrounging around for freebies and loanees, this slow build idea doesn't really work.

If we finish 7th or 8th   - a failure surely after our elevated position all season.   - the apologists for the Ewood management will soon shrug it off as a “project”.  

[superniko]

16 minutes ago, Neilbristol said:

Yes but how many of those 21 shots were on target? No point shooting at the corner flag and counting that as a shot for our stats 

I don't think you understood my post. We rank 21st in the league for shots per game not that we've had 21 shots. 

We're mid-table (13th) for shots on target, so we are actually pretty accurate when we do take a shot, (also highlighted by our xG being almost identical to our Goals Scored (46 vs 45). It's just that we're not taking very many.

[superniko]

53 minutes ago, neophox said:

Is it a surprise to beat Coventry? I would say we should beat them.... Hopefully Hyam is fired up for this....

We're favourites, as we're at home. On a neutral ground, say Playoff Final at Wembley, Coventry would be favourites.

[BigBar]

Gonna have our work cut out for us against Cov, Gyokyres really is a handful but it's a game probably more suited to us. Contain and hit them on the break. Breaking down a team set up to defend has been the obvious issue this season. We need to be brave and far more clinical than previous games. 

Be more direct, no short corners, no waiting until the last 20 mins to show any urgency, make changes if it's not working, throw a few long balls into the box, have a shot when the opportunity arises, don't hesitate, get stuck in, track your man. These are all basic requests but ones we have been very poor at executing overall.

[jim mk2]

55 minutes ago, superniko said:

We're favourites, as we're at home. On a neutral ground, say Playoff Final at Wembley, Coventry would be favourites.

Home or away on form we are definitely not favourites 

[lraC]

6 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Home or away on form we are definitely not favourites 

The bookies say we are. 

[had.e.nuff]

6 hours ago, superniko said:

We're 21st for shots per game (only Reading, Huddersfield and Rotherham have less), but 6th for most possession per game (Burnley, Swansea - lol, Norwich, Boro and West Brom having more).

"Have a bloody shot!" - we scream

 

Ill bet we are top for most touches from CH`s and full backs

[rigger]

2 minutes ago, had.e.nuff said:

Ill bet we are top for most touches from CH`s and full backs

And a good percentage of those touches have been poor ones.

[Sparks Rover]

2 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

I just really disagree with this. If that was the case we wouldnt be controlling the centre of the pitch as we consistently have. Our biggest issue is finishing and anticipation in the final third by a country mile, while the lack of pace at the back to handle counter attacks is a significant concern. But winning and controlling the ball in the middle third just hasn't been an issue.

We don't control the middle in big games, it's the opposite.  We've let more goals in this season than last so it's not just the forwards.

[philipl]

If we turn up and play like we can, we will win.

If we don't turn up like we don't in at least half our matches, it will be something between a stomach churning nervous 90 minutes and a humiliation.  

[rigger]

I can't help it, but dispite what I have said, I am getting excited about the Coventry game.

[Mattyblue]

Make that your last glass, rigger!

[rigger]

6 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Make that your last glass, rigger!

It's just such a big glass.

[jim mk2]

4 hours ago, lraC said:

The bookies say we are. 

The bookies also had Rovers favourites for the 1960 Cup final. If you think we’re favourites to beat Coventry I wouldn’t bet the farm if I were you

[lraC]

24 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

The bookies also had Rovers favourites for the 1960 Cup final. If you think we’re favourites to beat Coventry I wouldn’t bet the farm if I were you

I won’t be betting on it, just pointing out what the bookies think, to give it a bit of perspective. 

[roverandout]

7 hours ago, tomphil said:

Lost count of the times iv'e read comments along the lines of it's ok with don't make the play offs because we aren't ready we'd have taken 8th or 9th at the start.

Such defeatist weak mentality nonsense it's vital we bust a gut to finish as high as possible for any number of sane reasons. If we were spending decent budgets and clearly building to aim for automatics it would hold some weight.  As it is it doesn't at all we need to grasp the opportunities we make for ourselves whilst they are there.

It seems over a decade stagnating in this league hasn't registered in some places.

People have been Mowbray-ed