v Millwall (a) - Monday 8th May

[Exiled_Rover]

18 minutes ago, rigger said:

Kaminski in goal, Batty at left-back, midfield 3 chosen from Wharton, Garrett, Buckley, JRC. Then splash out on a goal-scorer or two.

Is Batty anywhere near ready? I know he picked up an injury this year, but he's not featured at all for the First XI. 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Exiled_Rover

[Bbrovers2288]

I think we are a lot further away from success than some here believe personally. I don’t think a goalscorer makes us automatic contenders. We have a weak mentality at the club since venkys arrived, no matter how many managers, players come in it all ends up the same. Negative goal difference, last minute concessions, big amount of losses, can’t come back from behind, poor performances when pressure on…

it’s a long road from changing all that . 1 or 2 signings, not my belief 

[rigger]

1 minute ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Is Batty anywhere near ready? I know he picked up an injury this year, but he's not featured at all for the First XI. 

From what I have seen of him, yes 

[philipl]

When I wrote Rovers will take Mowbray into the play offs, it was supposed to be a jinx...

Incredibly proud of how we bounced back in the lions' Den this afternoon. 

We have every reason to be optimistic about next season.

[Exiled_Rover]

9 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Seems like it. When he talks about how great an achievement it is for little Rovers to still be in contention on the last day, he’s not talking to the supporters and I certainly hope he’s not talking to players. He’s building up how good a job he has done to outsiders IMO.

He's never referred to us as 'little Rovers' - he's always been very forthright about the quality of the squad at his disposal. If anything he's talked us up as a great club with a fantastic history.

[BankEnd Rover]

3 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

I think we are a lot further away from success than some here believe personally. I don’t think a goalscorer makes us automatic contenders. We have a weak mentality at the club since venkys arrived, no matter how many managers, players come in it all ends up the same. Negative goal difference, last minute concessions, big amount of losses, can’t come back from behind, poor performances when pressure on…

it’s a long road from changing all that . 1 or 2 signings, not my belief 

I think we need to inject some pace into this team. Other than Thomas, who has been poor, we have no one who can beat their man. Look at Sunderland team, full Pace & of course, quality.

[booth]

1 minute ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

I think we are a lot further away from success than some here believe personally. I don’t think a goalscorer makes us automatic contenders. We have a weak mentality at the club since venkys arrived, no matter how many managers, players come in it all ends up the same. Negative goal difference, last minute concessions, big amount of losses, can’t come back from behind, poor performances when pressure on…

it’s a long road from changing all that . 1 or 2 signings, not my belief 

16 extra goals would have made us play off contenders this season, even with all the other problems.

[Spankus Munky]

20 minutes ago, rigger said:

Kaminski in goal, Batty at left-back, midfield 3 chosen from Wharton, Garrett, Buckley, JRC. Then splash out on a goal-scorer or two.

We can't go into next season with them options in the middle and be succesful. Wharton is a stand out who's potential is sky-high but to partner him with any of those is going to hurt him. He needs an experienced head who will do the dirty work and protect his weaknesses. The only one that could maybe do some of that but without the experience part would be JRC, but even then I would want the experience alongside Wharton to really let him shine.

[riverholmes]

22 minutes ago, B16Rover said:

To steal a stat from the internet, Coventry are the worst team to finish 5th and Sunderland 6th since 1988

I haven't seen that claim but I do think the quality is lacking. We don't need to look too far, as we almost made the play-offs and yet we've barely had 'a team'. Aside from the defence, the midfield and forward have been chopped and changed and gone in and out of form. Our main defensive midfielder has, arguably, had a 5 or 6/10 season, on average. The central midfielders have been really inconsistent and only Adam Wharton might be considered reliable and he hasn't played regularly.

This season's promoted clubs have barely a hope of being anything other than fodder next season. That, or they resort to anti-football to scrape points and survival. The gulf between Premier League and the rest is astronomical right now. 

Given the really low likelihood of Rovers getting promoted without a goalscorer and relying on teenagers in the spine of the team, the club really need to start selling to invest to sustain our future. Brereton-Diaz going for nothing is really galling, though we can never be sure reinvestment would've happened.

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by riverholmes

[Ianrally]

Let’s face reality, we lost out in the previous weeks , not because of today. I personally hope that JDT stays but my heart says he will go if he offered something by an ambitious club as has happened at Sunderland, where there is a different Mogadon to the one we had simply because of that reason. 
If JDT does stay he must have support from above otherwise we may as well have Kermit the frog as manager for the difference it will make. 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Ianrally

[Bbrovers2288]

4 minutes ago, booth said:

16 extra goals would have made us play off contenders this season, even with all the other problems.

How much is that costing? I don’t think we sign a guaranteed 16 goal striker in the near future 

[Hasta]

2 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

He's never referred to us as 'little Rovers' - he's always been very forthright about the quality of the squad at his disposal. If anything he's talked us up as a great club with a fantastic history.

Yeah to be fair I have paraphrased it a bit.

 I’d still rather he sold the dream than say how to be in with a chance on the last day is a great achievement.  It might have been from when he walked in the door, but from where we found ourselves at the end of Feb it comes across as absolving blame. Of course that blame is predominantly elsewhere, with JDT only having to shoulder a small portion of it, but IMO it is said to mask what a calamity the last 10 results have proven to be.

[chaddyrovers]

9 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

I think we are a lot further away from success than some here believe personally. I don’t think a goalscorer makes us automatic contenders. We have a weak mentality at the club since venkys arrived, no matter how many managers, players come in it all ends up the same. Negative goal difference, last minute concessions, big amount of losses, can’t come back from behind, poor performances when pressure on…

it’s a long road from changing all that . 1 or 2 signings, not my belief 

Not I think we need around 6 summer signings and keep our good players and young players who step up and shown they can play at this level like JRC, Wharton and Carter. 

The main one is signing number 9 striker like Maja or Nisbet then sign width with pace and skills plus centre midfielder 

5 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

He's never referred to us as 'little Rovers' - he's always been very forthright about the quality of the squad at his disposal. If anything he's talked us up as a great club with a fantastic history.

Since he walked through the door he has always tried to talked our club and 

[chaddyrovers]

2 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

How much is that costing? I don’t think we sign a guaranteed 16 goal striker in the near future 

Maja is a free and Nisbet would cost around 1 to 1.5 million 

[Armchair supporter supremo]

5 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

I think we are a lot further away from success than some here believe personally. I don’t think a goalscorer makes us automatic contenders. We have a weak mentality at the club since venkys arrived, no matter how many managers, players come in it all ends up the same. Negative goal difference, last minute concessions, big amount of losses, can’t come back from behind, poor performances when pressure on…

it’s a long road from changing all that . 1 or 2 signings, not my belief 

I think 2 or 3 quality permanent signings would make all the differance. The problem ids that they need to be quality ready made experienced players in their prime and no 'ones for the future...' the high fee signings of BB and gallagher 5 years ago has proved that that is not the way to go if you want success!!!!(or in the case of those 2...even your money back when they leave) 

 

Hoping we will get a bit of a cash windfall this summer if Raya finally leaves for good money (although I wouldn't be surprised at all if he just saw the final year of his contract out and we end up with nothing there also)

[Exiled_Rover]

4 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Yeah to be fair I have paraphrased it a bit.

 I’d still rather he sold the dream than say how to be in with a chance on the last day is a great achievement.  It might have been from when he walked in the door, but from where we found ourselves at the end of Feb it comes across as absolving blame. Of course that blame is predominantly elsewhere, with JDT only having to shoulder a small portion of it, but IMO it is said to mask what a calamity the last 10 results have proven to be.

He's asked for caution and patience all season - partly to avoid the situation he finds himself in now with fans blaming him for failing to get into the Playoffs with a squad that isn't up to it. 

I'm very excited about next season if he stays and is backed - sadly it's Venky's Rovers so neither of those things will happen.

[Hasta]

2 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Maja is a free and Nisbet would cost around 1 to 1.5 million 

Id be delighted if we brought either of those in. I find it very unlikely as they are far higher-profile than any signing we have managed for a while.

[Exiled_Rover]

6 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

How much is that costing? I don’t think we sign a guaranteed 16 goal striker in the near future 

I mean if we'd just had Amad Diallo on loan on the RW this season we'd be in the Playoffs. 

[Armchair supporter supremo]

3 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Maja is a free and Nisbet would cost around 1 to 1.5 million 

neither of those are proven reliable goalscorers in the championship

[Spankus Munky]

3 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Maja is a free and Nisbet would cost around 1 to 1.5 million 

Maja has what is it 2 Championship goals in 32 apps? that aint no 16 goal striker

[Bbrovers2288]

2 minutes ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

neither of those are proven reliable goalscorers in the championship

Correct

[Hasta]

1 minute ago, Exiled_Rover said:

He's asked for caution and patience all season - partly to avoid the situation he finds himself in now with fans blaming him for failing to get into the Playoffs with a squad that isn't up to it. 

I'm very excited about next season if he stays and is backed - sadly it's Venky's Rovers so neither of those things will happen.

But is that squad capable of getting more points from the last 11 games than we ultimately did. I’d say yes. People are clearly reacting to the situation we found ourselves.

Agree with your last sentence. With a bit of not-unrealistic ambition I’d be excited to see if we could dominate the ball but carry a genuine goal threat. Then we’d be dangerous. But, as I’ve just said to Chaddy, I think us getting targets such as Nisbett and Maja where there is genuine competition for their signature is unlikely.
 

[RoverCanada]

Well, that was a fun time in the away end. All I could do was laugh at that second half.

[Athlete]

1 hour ago, Crimpshrine said:

The difference between Mowbray at Sunderland and Mowbray at Rovers is entirely down to the ambition of the two clubs, the way they are run and the fact that the owners give a shit.

Venky's out

Nail on the head

[deanives]

All I can say is look at mk dons last year to this year, I'm afraid that is the future, I hope to god I'm wrong