v West Bromwich Albion (H) - 05/08/2023

[philipl]

4 hours ago, Exiled in Toronto Mk2 said:

By my reckoning, the second goal was 8 seconds after the restart, which makes it the fastest Rovers goal after a kick off I’ve ever seen. Can’t think of one anywhere near as quick.

Agreed.

Especially as we didn't even take the kick off!

[speeeeeeedie]

The better team won, which is a good thing. 

Rovers worked extremely hard, could have scored a few more, and didn't give West Brom much. 

Scoring goals will be the problem. Conceding them won't. Hyam and co looked very comfortable. Pears looks to have got bigger, although his kicking was a bit suspect. 

Were Rovers small or West Brom massive?

I'm not a fan of Dolan. He grafts but offers very little attacking threat. 

Adam Wharton is a very good player, it was no surprise that Rovers improved when he came on. He had a mad few minutes when he gave the ball away a few times but luckily it came to naught for the Baggies.

There are a few comments about the team being under strength today. Who was missing? Sam  Gallagher gets plenty of abuse on here about being not good enough. Ennis just arrived from what was a League 1 side. Anyone else?

[Ossydave]

2 hours ago, speeeeeeedie said:

 

I'm not a fan of Dolan. He grafts but offers very little attacking threat. 

He almost scored, good save tbf. I'm not a Dolan fan though.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Ossydave

[Ossydave]

Absolutely splendid, if you could have picked 2 players to score they were the ones too, made up for both of them.

Nice easy non-mercer printing money bet too 😎

[philipl]

2 hours ago, speeeeeeedie said:

The better team won, which is a good thing. 

Rovers worked extremely hard, could have scored a few more, and didn't give West Brom much. 

Scoring goals will be the problem. Conceding them won't. Hyam and co looked very comfortable. Pears looks to have got bigger, although his kicking was a bit suspect. 

Were Rovers small or West Brom massive?

I'm not a fan of Dolan. He grafts but offers very little attacking threat. 

Adam Wharton is a very good player, it was no surprise that Rovers improved when he came on. He had a mad few minutes when he gave the ball away a few times but luckily it came to naught for the Baggies.

There are a few comments about the team being under strength today. Who was missing? Sam  Gallagher gets plenty of abuse on here about being not good enough. Ennis just arrived from what was a League 1 side. Anyone else?

Sigurdsson the obvious absentee.

 

[BankEnd Rover]

5 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Reading WBA forums and a few of them were picking upon just how much fitter we were than them. 

I've seen very few Rovers teams play with the intensity, and be as hard-working, as this one. 

WBA were a big physical side and we were physically (and technically) too much for them 2nd half.

The height difference was scary when they walked out - Also watching the first 20 minutes you would not of thought we would have out run them/battle them. Leonard & SS didn’t stop.

[BankEnd Rover]

Dolan was a passenger first half. Really enjoyed watching him second half though. Some good link up with Sammie and pickering on the overlap. 

Edited August 6, 2023 by BankEnd Rover

[47er]

I think Dolan gets a hard time on here, at Ewood not so much!

[M_B]

54 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

The height difference was scary when they walked out - Also watching the first 20 minutes you would not of thought we would have out run them/battle them. Leonard & SS didn’t stop.

The height difference was scary, yet Pears and his defence coped really well at set pieces. 

[M_B]

5 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Obviously the initial and majority of the blame for their goal goes to Markanday but a poor pass by Aynslea "good on the ball" Pears in the build up. Also nearly got caught out in the first half.

Yeah, but that's not bad after 106 minutes of obvious intense scrutiny. 

Edited August 6, 2023 by M_B

[Sweaty Gussets]

Results didn't necessarily improve, but no-one can argue that from about February onwards last season we looked a much better team.

I thought yesterday there was another noticeable improvement.

Nobody really likes us passing the ball about in dangerous areas between defenders/keepers but I thought yesterday you could see exactly why we do it. They were a big physical team with good players and you could see from the off they fancied their chances of overpowering us on the press and winning the ball high up the pitch.

JDT's obvious plan is to suck the opposition (matron!) midfield and attack deep into our half and leave a huge gap in the middle of the park for us to exploit if we manage to pass through the press. It worked more times yesterday (in the 2nd half especially) than I remember from any match last season. We kept getting through the press, picking the ball up in midfield and quickly feeding it out wide, mainly to Dolan.

One minute we were passing about in our own box, the next were running at their backline 3-on-4 or 4-on-4. It's impressive how quick we do it. 

What we don't do well is exploit those situations, especially from the wide areas. Dolan worked really hard yesterday and his defensive work has improved massively, so has ability to keep the ball. Where he lacks is when he gets the ball in dangerous areas cos there is little end product. I'm guessing Siggy has been brought in because he can create and score goals. I think we need someone on the right who can do the same. 

I think we're a couple of attackers short of having a really good team that will be hard to beat. 

[Feed the Yak]

It was a great game to watch and a very good performance by us. The identity that JDT came in to implement is clear and while there is always room to improve, this set of players are giving it their all to deliver the plan. My wife commented on how well we played, a very rare compliment from her so we must be doing something right lol.

Made up for Leonard, he's got a lot of potential and while I will temper my expectations, I'm secretly hoping he can replace Brereton's goals. The lad gets in the right places and will put away chances once he settles down I'm sure.

Markanday is being rewarded for his work off the ball and it's great to see him get his goal too. It will do a lot for his confidence and will show him what he can do if he continues to apply himself.

Adam Wharton has phenomenal when we came on and then waned, but if we can get 35 games out of him this season he is going to cause a lot of problems for the opposition.

Travis was fantastic today, if he can stay fresh he could really kick on to the next level this season in this team.

Defensively we were great, Hyam was a rock amongst some big WBA players and Carter always impresses me and did so again today.

Lovely performance, proud of the lads!

[neophox]

4 hours ago, speeeeeeedie said:

The better team won, which is a good thing. 

Rovers worked extremely hard, could have scored a few more, and didn't give West Brom much. 

Scoring goals will be the problem. Conceding them won't. Hyam and co looked very comfortable. Pears looks to have got bigger, although his kicking was a bit suspect. 

Were Rovers small or West Brom massive?

I'm not a fan of Dolan. He grafts but offers very little attacking threat. 

Adam Wharton is a very good player, it was no surprise that Rovers improved when he came on. He had a mad few minutes when he gave the ball away a few times but luckily it came to naught for the Baggies.

There are a few comments about the team being under strength today. Who was missing? Sam  Gallagher gets plenty of abuse on here about being not good enough. Ennis just arrived from what was a League 1 side. Anyone else?

Sigurdsson, Ennis and some new signings...also Wharton and Tronstad are not matchfit for 90 mins....remember we lost around 10 players since the end of season.

[Mattyblue]

Indeed SG, The passing around the back has improved markedly as you would expect as we’ve practiced it enough! 😁

Now the ball is moved quickly into midfield  with the opposition dragged out of position, textbook really. It’s even seemed to have quietened down the ‘stop pissing about wi it!’ Mowbray piners around me…

[neophox]

7 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Reading WBA forums and a few of them were picking upon just how much fitter we were than them. 

I've seen very few Rovers teams play with the intensity, and be as hard-working, as this one. 

WBA were a big physical side and we were physically (and technically) too much for them 2nd half.

I noticed this under TM we didn't seem fit enough but JDT clearly is working hard with having athletic and fit players who can take on the game plan. Look at Ennis ...signed but needed to shape him up....surely that will make Ennis a big and fit enough player for us this season.

Edited August 6, 2023 by neophox

[arbitro]

Has there been an explanation for Markanday's goal celebration yet? He seemed to be on an imaginary motor bike revving it up.

[Mattyblue]

Every now and then with TM we’d put in a fantastic pressing performance… then it would disappear, lack of fitness was probably a big part of why.

[Herbie6590]

https://www.brfcs.com/magazine/articles/match-report:-wba-(h)-5823/437

[Atko's Engine]

7 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Extended highlights (everyone seems to do this better than us, I can only assume we've got a skeleton media / comms crew). Three absolute bollocks appeals for penalties imo - desperate: 

 

 

 

I was really enjoying that, but why did they end after their goal?!

[Herbie6590]

11 hours ago, arbitro said:

You too Ian. Are you gracing us with your presence for the rest of the season?

There goes the neighbourhood eh ?😆

@StubbsUK suggested we try the JW after we enjoyed the Girona experience, so we are testing it out. For a small fee we can be persuaded to return to the Riverside. Yesterday’s weather made it a sound choice for sure…

[Atko's Engine]

I can't find a link to post player ratings, pls can one of the mods put one up? 👍

[RoversClitheroe]

30 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Has there been an explanation for Markanday's goal celebration yet? He seemed to be on an imaginary motor bike revving it up.

Crazy frog I think?

[Danny O.Brien]

I thought they were brilliant yesterday, I was really impressed. Leonard coming deep to win the ball was refreshing. Pleased for him and markanday who had a bad time of it at Aberdeen. Leonard should've had a hatrick it not at least the first one. All positive. I'd start Leonard again mid week and hopefully he can score again and go on a bit of a run. Still few players short but can't have any complaints about that performance.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

8 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Reading WBA forums and a few of them were picking upon just how much fitter we were than them. 

I've seen very few Rovers teams play with the intensity, and be as hard-working, as this one. 

WBA were a big physical side and we were physically (and technically) too much for them 2nd half.

I thought Leonard was a prime example of that.  Even in injury time, he was running the cb into the ground - and looked like he could do for another half hour. 

Maybe that's the benefit of some younger players.  They're like Duracell bunnies. 

[Herbie6590]

11 minutes ago, Atko's Engine said:

I can't find a link to post player ratings, pls can one of the mods put one up? 👍

We have forgotten to change the default season to 23/24…🤦‍♂️

 

Change this drop down selection…

 

https://www.brfcs.com/magazine/football/match/1047435/blackburn-west-brom?tab=voting
 

Hopefully @StubbsUK or @Roth can sort it for us soonest…👍🏻