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

[DE.]

56 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I mentioned yesterday that I think there has been a lot of nonsense over the last few months about Travis not being a Tomasson player. That's now 40 of 46 available league games (suspended for one last season) that he has started in. He is by no means a standout in a negative sense when on the ball, albeit it's not his main asset, but it also goes under the radar how important he is when we press, often leading it with Szmodics. He is also our captain so we need his leadership.

I would also dovetail that point with the situation with Buckley. Forget the made up nonsense about being seen as a £10m player etc, he seems to still be well down the pecking order as shown again an unused sub yesterday in favour of Travis, a new signing and Wharton who has missed most of pre season. He has been not picked many more times when available compared to Travis and has really stagnated since Tomasson came in with the decision to move him back into a deeper position causing many problems with him struggling to adapt with the lack of time you get there. 

Obviously we need Buckley still as we are light on numbers and he does have ability, but I think he might struggle to get past any of the 3 ahead of him whilst they remain available. I hope Tomasson considers him as an alternative to Szmodics as I think he is better further up the pitch, his assets when thriving under Mowbray were best utilised further up and whilst he struggles in front of goal, he can also press well and he can pick out a through ball when further up despite his struggles to dictate games from deeper.

Wharton has come in and shown the potential that a lot of people were expecting from Buckley. There are times when Wharton makes mistakes, as younger footballers do, but at the same time he'll show multiple times a game why he's rated so highly. Buckley has shown glimpses on occasion but nowhere near as often as Wharton, and in many games feels like a passenger, whereas Wharton is always trying to get involved and get something started even if things aren't coming off for him. I don't think it's a lack of talent with Buckley, but perhaps a mentality issue that needs to be improved upon if he's going to really push on. 

Talk of Travis not being needed when we have 4/5 midfielders ignores the fact that those midfielders aren't interchangable. Each has a different skillset and Travis has qualities that the others don't possess, and don't need to possess. Don't get me wrong, Travis can have and has had some poor games, but a lot of that seems to stem from the fatigue of the box-to-box role he's usually asked to play. We don't need to get rid of Travis, we just need a good rotational option available to bring into the first team if Travis' form dips or he's struggling with tiredness, particularly during the Saturday/midweek/Saturday periods of the season. 

Edited August 6, 2023 by DE.

[SkipDonoghue]

14 hours ago, Crozzy said:

I think he was knocked off his game after that clash with Asanti. When I saw him come off at half time (sit very close to dugout) he looked pretty dazed to be honest. Don’t think he was himself after that incident.

A fractured wrist and was struggling with that and also kneck pain, whiplash, he did well to last as long as he did

[roversfan99]

11 minutes ago, DE. said:

Wharton has come in and shown the potential that a lot of people were expecting from Buckley. There are times when Wharton makes mistakes, as younger footballers do, but at the same time he'll show multiple times a game why he's rated so highly. Buckley has shown glimpses on occasion but nowhere near as often as Wharton, and in many games feels like a passenger, whereas Wharton is always trying to get involved and get something started even if things aren't coming off for him. I don't think it's a lack of talent with Buckley, but perhaps a mentality issue that needs to be improved upon if he's going to really push on. 

Talk of Travis not being needed when we have 4/5 midfielders ignores the fact that those midfielders aren't interchangable. Each has a different skillset and Travis has qualities that the others don't possess, and don't need to possess. Don't get me wrong, Travis can have and has had some poor games, but a lot of that seems to stem from the fatigue of the box-to-box role he's usually asked to play. We don't need to get rid of Travis, we just need a good rotational option available to bring into the first team if Travis' form dips or he's struggling with tiredness, particularly during the Saturday/midweek/Saturday periods of the season. 

Would certainly agree with a lot of that. The main curiosity is as much the general narrative that I have seen a few times that Tomasson may not rate Travis, that he doesn't fit the way he wants to play and that he might happily let him go.

To me, there isn't much evidence of that, his captain who has started every game bar a 6 game spell last winter. No one has really questioned Buckley whereas there seems to be much more evidence that he is not as fancied, unused yesterday and seemingly down in 4th choice when all are fit, assuming that he would be selected over Garrett.

I think a lot might be based on the fact that Buckley is obviously a more technical player but it overlooks that a big part of Tomasson's game is pressing and Travis is really good at that. I do wonder if Buckley could benefit from playing further up as when he has played deeper, I don't think it suits him. He lacks the intelligence and speed of though of Wharton.

[Hasta]

6 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

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.

You can see why we do it, but the issue for me is when we are at the point where we are running out of options we should then clear it. There’s a couple of times you could see we were be panicked into playing loose balls, and we weren’t fully in control, and eventually we lose it. 
 

I’ve not watched their goal in full, but from what I recall it comes from our free kick just near the half way line. We take it short, get closed down immediately and it works its way back to Pears. Pears should hoof it then. If we are playing it sideways and our players are making options that’s fine. But all Pears does is play it to Carter who is almost closed down immediately and has very few options. 
 

Markanday should do better then but he’s in trouble from the minute he gets the ball. It’s self inflicted. One goal conceded so far and it’s down to pissing about at the back.  If your in trouble and losing control of the situation then get rid.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Hasta

[speeeeeeedie]

8 hours ago, philipl said:

Sigurdsson the obvious absentee.

 

 

5 hours ago, neophox said:

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.

Thanks fellas. I completely forgot about him. I assume he'll replace either Dolan or Markanday. Which is fine for me. 

[Herbie6590]

1 hour ago, StubbsUK said:

Yep, should be sorted now ...

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

For folks wanting to vote in the POTM 👆🏻👍🏻

[J*B]

6 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

For folks wanting to vote in the POTM 👆🏻👍🏻

… you’ve missed your chance, because voting has closed, congrats big Dom! 

[DE.]

38 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Would certainly agree with a lot of that. The main curiosity is as much the general narrative that I have seen a few times that Tomasson may not rate Travis, that he doesn't fit the way he wants to play and that he might happily let him go.

To me, there isn't much evidence of that, his captain who has started every game bar a 6 game spell last winter. No one has really questioned Buckley whereas there seems to be much more evidence that he is not as fancied, unused yesterday and seemingly down in 4th choice when all are fit, assuming that he would be selected over Garrett.

I think a lot might be based on the fact that Buckley is obviously a more technical player but it overlooks that a big part of Tomasson's game is pressing and Travis is really good at that. I do wonder if Buckley could benefit from playing further up as when he has played deeper, I don't think it suits him. He lacks the intelligence and speed of though of Wharton.

Ultimately you can't have a midfield consisting solely of technical players in this league. You need at least one person willing to do the dirty work and cover ground, which is where Travis and Tronstad are vital. People sometimes underestimate Travis' technical ability as well. He may not be on Wharton or Buckley's level in that regard, but he is capable of playing some very good passes and occasionally has a decent strike on him. This gives us an extra dimension if Travis is able to get further up the pitch and leave Tronstad further back to tidy up and keep the defensive side steady. Suggestions that Travis isn't a Championship level player and comparing him to Lowe (and yes, I've seen that on here from a couple of people and in other places) are absolutely absurd in my view.

In terms of JDT and Travis' relationship, there has been little outside of dubious ITK posts on here to suggest there's any major problem. As captain I'm sure Travis has his say, and maybe he has butted heads with JDT on occasion, but I don't think it's a bad thing for the more influential players to make their voices heard - as long as they're generally on board with the manager's ideas. If Travis wasn't then he'd be out the door like Dack was. JDT doesn't suffer fools, and as you say, if he and Travis were having as much of a problem with each other as people claim I doubt Travis would be starting, let alone as captain. I think it's mostly nonsense from people who seem to want Travis out of the club for whatever reason. 

[Andy]

2 hours ago, Rover8T4 said:

One thing I did notice yesterday was the Job Brittain done when he came on. Sarmiento was pacey and carries the ball well. I find Brittain very composed on the ball, He dropped his shoulder to dummy the winger and that little bit of play opened up the whole pitch. He does this very well, Himself and JRC will have big roles to play this season.

I was extremely impressed with Brittain early last season and before his injury, I felt he was one of our best players.

Injuries robbed him of most of the season last year, but I’m hoping he’ll be another ‘like a new signing’ for us this season.

And I saw another note whilst I’ve been catching up saying Dolan gets a hard time on here. I don’t think he does, he’s just had very few good games in recent memory.

[1864roverite]

There is some nonsense written about Travis. If he wasn’t in JDTs plans he would not be captain of the team that would have been passed to another player. 
Yesterday was a classic game from him nasty in the tackle winding players up setting up a goal and getting a booking😅

[ItsRoverZ]

Just watched the highlights on ITV, I missed both Leonards missed chances on first viewing, the first miss was a shocker but probably down to nerves, he looks a gem though and can't wait to see him flourish this season.

Another who I was really impressed with and I thought was the best on the pitch was Hayden Carter, he is a beast! 

[aletheia]

Win is a win.

We were pretty poor first half but they contrived to give us 2 goals (which were well taken.)

More open and entertaining 2^nd half once it got to 2-1.

Markandy was poor. Not convinced -yet.

Tronsdat was a mile off the pace –schooled by Travis. Not convinced -yet

I’m going to hear a lot of voices around me all season screaming at players to stop “messing around at the back and get it forward.” Totally obvious that they are instructed to play out from the back at all costs. Lump it forward? I don’t think so. The number of times first half the ball was moved across the back line and then out to Markandy (back to goal) only for the poor lad to lose it/be outmuscled etc. There is going to be a lot of turgid midfield play –that will be fine when we win, boring and knives out when we don’t.

Leonard was good. Should have scored. Lucky to score –keeper was useless, beaten at near post-only had to stand there and it would have hit him. Leonard’s overall display was very good though.

Trav may not be a genius but does the necessary. Needed.

Hyam excellent, Carter solid.

Corners-I know the argument for short with the front 3 we had and their big lads but you’ve got to vary it occasionally especially when you’ve sent the 2 centre backs forward.  Or is that the decoy? :-)

Ditto early ball forward. OK, obviously no lumping it from full back in the absence of a target man but on the steal/turnover in midfield you could send it early then with a pacy front 3. Otherwise you become a little predictable.

Dolan –comments a little harsh I think. Yes he rarely did anything that caught the eye but seemed to me that he’s been coached to keep it simple, keep possession, easy give and go. He did that really well. (As opposed to Markandy who frustratingly lost it plenty of times –and yes I know he scored.) How many times were people saying last season that he just runs down blind alleys? Seemed to me he’d jettisoned that yesterday and was therefore quietly effective.

Worth the entrance fee for Adam’s curved forward pass alone. Who else can do that for us?

And did I say, nice win. Good energy. Hope the tippy tappy is ok when pitches get rougher. But then Big Sam could be back. ;-)

[Kie_BRFC]

Anyone know if Rotherham has sold out or if it’s just the ticket website being it’s usual rubbish self?

[BullcrapFC]

2 hours ago, Andy said:

I was extremely impressed with Brittain early last season and before his injury, I felt he was one of our best players.

Injuries robbed him of most of the season last year, but I’m hoping he’ll be another ‘like a new signing’ for us this season.

And I saw another note whilst I’ve been catching up saying Dolan gets a hard time on here. I don’t think he does, he’s just had very few good games in recent memory.

He's shite, Preston didn't realise him for a laugh.

[rigger]

2 minutes ago, Kie_BRFC said:

Anyone know if Rotherham has sold out or if it’s just the ticket website being it’s usual rubbish self?

Either could be the case.

[BullcrapFC]

1 minute ago, Kie_BRFC said:

Anyone know if Rotherham has sold out or if it’s just the ticket website being it’s usual rubbish self?

We don't sell out any away games, apart from local or 'big' games so I highly doubt it.

[rigger]

2 minutes ago, BullcrapFC said:

We don't sell out any away games, apart from local or 'big' games so I highly doubt it.

That depends on our allocation.

[Herbie6590]

 

[BullcrapFC]

32 minutes ago, rigger said:

That depends on our allocation.

It really doesn't mate. We don't sell out away games unless local or big games simple as. Unless it's league 1 and below. @Mattyblue will back me up, he's knows his stuff

[chaddyrovers]

 

 

[oldjamfan1]

1 hour ago, BullcrapFC said:

He's shite, Preston didn't realise him for a laugh.

He’s anything but shite. He’s maybe made of glass but he’s a decent enough player when fit.

 

[Mattyblue]

35 minutes ago, BullcrapFC said:

It really doesn't mate. We don't sell out away games unless local or big games simple as. Unless it's league 1 and below. @Mattyblue will back me up, he's knows his stuff

My reputation proceeds me  (Don’t tell Gav 😀)

I’d imagine we’ll have a decent following there, 1,600 or so, but not quite the full 1,900. They’ll probably add more tickets in the morning.

[Upside Down]

6 hours ago, Bohinen1983 said:

Exactly! It's hard to watch at times but it does set the scene for our counter-attacks..

Or lose us the game....

[47er]

7 hours ago, Hasta said:

There’s a couple of times you could see we were be panicked into playing loose balls, and we weren’t fully in control, and eventually we lose it. 
 

At least a couple.

[tomphil]

5 hours ago, BullcrapFC said:

He's shite, Preston didn't realise him for a laugh.

Dolan isn't shite at all he's just a young player who struggles for consistency like plenty others and he needs to drop some of his over cooking it.