FA Cup - 2023/24

[JHRover]

9 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

That's entirely wrong.

I'd say it is about right based on what I see and hear. Certainly the people I go to games with, go to the pub with beforehand and am sat / stood around during games have little to no interest in the owners. Quite happy to speculate and discuss new signings and team selections and moan at Tomasson, but absolutely no interest in what is going on in India or the boardroom. Never been a murmur of discontent about Waggott or the shadow man.

[M_B]

2 hours ago, martonrover said:

…….. £10 a ticket, (max) or they probably will have more.

It's plenty,and just about right.

Forget who it is, (not that they're anybody), and it's a league 2 club at home in the 4th round.  

Edited January 9 by M_B

[Mattyblue]

And very likely to be a daft time too like 5.30pm due to S4C.

[Exiled_Rover]

46 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I'd say it is about right based on what I see and hear. Certainly the people I go to games with, go to the pub with beforehand and am sat / stood around during games have little to no interest in the owners. Quite happy to speculate and discuss new signings and team selections and moan at Tomasson, but absolutely no interest in what is going on in India or the boardroom. Never been a murmur of discontent about Waggott or the shadow man.

And I'd say it's about wrong based on my experiences of the people I encounter at the match.

 

Funny that.

[Mattyblue]

End of the day it's all anecdotal, but I'd not heard a peep about Waggott or the owners for years. Well, I have about the owners, usually folk saying how grateful we should all be to them.

A lot of talk about how skint we are, how crap our gates are/our support is, how we can't expect to compete, but joining the dots as to why I can't say I've heard too much of.

But maybe this season it is starting to change a bit, folk may be finally waking up again, but JDT still is the main one in the firing line for the club's travails... polar opposite of here, of course. 

[MarkBRFC]

16 hours ago, philipl said:

So got a L2 side at home AND a glamour tie.

Going to get punished for all this good fortune with Plymouth or Brentford away in the 5th round...

A glamour tie?!

It's a 4th division, welsh side at Ewood.

[wxm801]

8 hours ago, Ossydave said:

Just reading some comments from Wrexham fans, they're completely underwhelmed by the draw, who the feck do they think they are?

Safe to say as well as a sizeable allocation, half the country will be behind them as everyone seems invested in the 'story' of Wrexham 🥱 

Wrexham fan in peace. Been a long old 15 years in the wilderness let me tell you. I know you have your issues with your owners (thats probably an understatement so forgive me) but imagine going from League One to the National league and being stuck there for 15 years with little to no hope of getting out. Grim. 

We're only underwhelmed in the sense that we would've (of course) liked a glamour draw away, as in Liverpool or Man Utd etc. Who wouldn't? No one means any disrespect I'm sure. As I'm sure you weren't exactly busting open the Champagne when you saw us as your opponents. 

On the contrary I believe we're well on the way to being the most hated team in the country. No one seems to like us now we've got great owners and a bit of money. Its a bit weird, as what do people expect fans to do? Tell em to feck off? We got to vote on the new owners as we were Trust owned (unmitigated disaster btw, never become fan owned, ever) so we weren't exactly going to turn the opportunity down.

Anyway  the majority of Wrexham fans are looking forward to visiting another local ish proper football stadium and we will sell out our allocation which hopefully will be the full capacity of your away end?

[windymiller7]

I've also put a link to this in the Nostalgia thread, but seeing as it's related to Sammie's Hat-trick on saturday, I'll copy the post here as well.

Saw this on the Rovers website earlier. Quite a good quiz especially as you've only got 10 mins to complete. 

I got 15/23 - beware, one of the correct answers will not enter for some reason, so strictly speaking my score showed as 14. I've been back on and one of the correct answers will definitely not work for some reason, so I'm claiming 15.

Disappointed I didn't get at least 3 more but there are probably one or two in there that people have forgotten about - one of them I even saw live & didn't get it!! 🤦‍♂️

Anyway, a bit of fun for 10 mins if anyone fancies it:

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2024/january/09/quiz--hat-trick-heroes-/

[NeilInBristol]

Any news on the rescheduled Cardiff game? I planned to stay in Cardiff that weekend but now it's the facup! Doh!

[rigger]

3 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

Any news on the rescheduled Cardiff game? I planned to stay in Cardiff that weekend but now it's the facup! Doh!

I was going to do the same thing, but I suppose it will be on a mid-week now.

[tomphil]

58 minutes ago, wxm801 said:

Wrexham fan in peace. Been a long old 15 years in the wilderness let me tell you. I know you have your issues with your owners (thats probably an understatement so forgive me) but imagine going from League One to the National league and being stuck there for 15 years with little to no hope of getting out. Grim. 

We're only underwhelmed in the sense that we would've (of course) liked a glamour draw away, as in Liverpool or Man Utd etc. Who wouldn't? No one means any disrespect I'm sure. As I'm sure you weren't exactly busting open the Champagne when you saw us as your opponents. 

On the contrary I believe we're well on the way to being the most hated team in the country. No one seems to like us now we've got great owners and a bit of money. Its a bit weird, as what do people expect fans to do? Tell em to feck off? We got to vote on the new owners as we were Trust owned (unmitigated disaster btw, never become fan owned, ever) so we weren't exactly going to turn the opportunity down.

Anyway  the majority of Wrexham fans are looking forward to visiting another local ish proper football stadium and we will sell out our allocation which hopefully will be the full capacity of your away end?

A lot are just going over the top with it of course most Rovers fans want a big club tie home or away and our large element of once a season fans always pray for Liverpool or Utd at home.

Next best thing though is a home game against a lower division side and another good chance of progress (on paper) and who really cares how many turn up.  Longer you're in the comp money can be made and the chance of a big tie the odds get shorter.

The 'glamour' bit is nonsense in regards to this game unless half of Hollywood is turning up in Blackburn.

It does though have a lot of intrigue as Wrexham are a good side with massive incentive in this and Rovers are so easy to score against this season it's crazy. We also have the potential to put 4 or 5 past you though also and we never play it safe so i predict a crazy game and plenty goals.

It could be a cracker.

Edited January 9 by tomphil

[wxm801]

11 minutes ago, tomphil said:

A lot are just going over the top with it of course most Rovers fans want a big club tie home or away and our large element of once a season fans always pray for Liverpool or Utd at home.

Next best thing though is a home game against a lower division side and another good chance of progress (on paper) and who really cares how many turn up.  Longer you're in the comp money can be made and the chance of a big tie the odds get shorter.

The 'glamour' bit is nonsense in regards to this game unless half of Hollywood is turning up in Blackburn.

It does though have a lot of intrigue as Wrexham are a good side with massive incentive in this and Rovers are so easy to score against this season it's crazy. We also have the potential to put 4 or 5 past you though also and we never play it safe so i predict a crazy game and plenty goals.

It could be a cracker.

Well it looks that way, but we're nowhere near as good away from home though, so I'm expecting a defeat.

We're a big physical side that can mix it up and despite a lot of others fans calling Parky a dinosaur etc, when the time is right we can play good football too.  We rarely get bullied and this team doesn't know when its beat.

Of course we had a shocking start to our League two campaign but that was more down to a exhausting pre season tour of the US and getting back a week before the season kicked off along with a few other factors.

What can we expect from you? 

 

[only2garners]

1 hour ago, NeilInBristol said:

Any news on the rescheduled Cardiff game? I planned to stay in Cardiff that weekend but now it's the facup! Doh!

I suspect that there will be no rush to get this game played. Neither side will be keen to put on a midweek game in February.

[tomphil]

9 minutes ago, wxm801 said:

Well it looks that way, but we're nowhere near as good away from home though, so I'm expecting a defeat.

We're a big physical side that can mix it up and despite a lot of others fans calling Parky a dinosaur etc, when the time is right we can play good football too.  We rarely get bullied and this team doesn't know when its beat.

Of course we had a shocking start to our League two campaign but that was more down to a exhausting pre season tour of the US and getting back a week before the season kicked off along with a few other factors.

What can we expect from you? 

 

Well bullying you won't have to worry about and we struggle with any form of physical style but if you take us on a football it would suit us more.

Physically probably the weakest squad in the Championship and we are likely to have one of the youngest sides ever out in this one. The is no such thing as a long ball in this team or a centre forward and set piece goals are an alien breed at 2023/4 Blackburn Rovers.

It'll be an interesting clash of styles i'd wager.

[wxm801]

4 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Well bullying you won't have to worry about and we struggle with any form of physical style but if you take us on a football it would suit us more.

Physically probably the weakest squad in the Championship and we are likely to have one of the youngest sides ever out in this one. The is no such thing as a long ball in this team or a centre forward and set piece goals are an alien breed at 2023/4 Blackburn Rovers.

It'll be an interesting clash of styles i'd wager.

I very much doubt we'll try to outplay you,  I very much doubt anyone sees that working against Championship quality.

More than likely we will be direct into Palmer, Fletcher or Dalby, whoever plays with Mullin (assuming we haven't signed another striker by then) or over the top / down the channels for Mullin etc to run onto. We'll look to win throw ins near your box for Tozer's long throw. We're pretty good at set pieces with McClean in the side.

Where we struggle is against teams who have a high press and are good at it, lots of teams try the high press but few are very good at it at our level. Also we struggle against pace, particularly running at our back three who aren't the quickest (Bar Hayden) and that's usually how we concede.

Our GK Arthur Okonkwo, who is on loan from Arsenal, is a giant too and looks like the real deal. I'd be well chuffed if we could sign him permanently. 

[M_B]

8 minutes ago, wxm801 said:

I very much doubt we'll try to outplay you,  I very much doubt anyone sees that working against Championship quality.

More than likely we will be direct into Palmer, Fletcher or Dalby, whoever plays with Mullin (assuming we haven't signed another striker by then) or over the top / down the channels for Mullin etc to run onto. We'll look to win throw ins near your box for Tozer's long throw. We're pretty good at set pieces with McClean in the side.

Where we struggle is against teams who have a high press and are good at it, lots of teams try the high press but few are very good at it at our level. Also we struggle against pace, particularly running at our back three who aren't the quickest (Bar Hayden) and that's usually how we concede.

Our GK Arthur Okonkwo, who is on loan from Arsenal, is a giant too and looks like the real deal. I'd be well chuffed if we could sign him permanently. 

Watch the goals for and against from the Cambridge game, and it's pretty much Rovers in a nutshell. 

[superniko]

A league 2 side at home to get to the L16 of the FA Cup. Win this (and let's be honest we'll be odds on favourites), then we're 1 game away from the FA Cup Quarter Finals and 2 games away from finally having a trip to the new Wembley (not that the semi-finals should be there).

Let's have them!

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, windymiller7 said:

I've also put a link to this in the Nostalgia thread, but seeing as it's related to Sammie's Hat-trick on saturday, I'll copy the post here as well.

Saw this on the Rovers website earlier. Quite a good quiz especially as you've only got 10 mins to complete. 

I got 15/23 - beware, one of the correct answers will not enter for some reason, so strictly speaking my score showed as 14. I've been back on and one of the correct answers will definitely not work for some reason, so I'm claiming 15.

Disappointed I didn't get at least 3 more but there are probably one or two in there that people have forgotten about - one of them I even saw live & didn't get it!! 🤦‍♂️

Anyway, a bit of fun for 10 mins if anyone fancies it:

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2024/january/09/quiz--hat-trick-heroes-/

I had 16 of them with 6 minutes left...then only managed another 2! There's only one I'm annoyed I didn't get though, as all the others were from before my time. When the answers popped up, I knew the names but I'd never have got them on my own if I'd been trying to guess it all night. From 1991-92 onwards though, I did pretty well!

You only need to type the surname btw for it to register, that might explain the issue you were having with one...I couldn't get our most recent one to show until I used only their surname.

[roversfan99]

We are in no mans land in the league, we would likely need automatic promotion from now until the end of the season to threaten the play offs. A big ask even if our squad wasn't as thin and poor as it is compared to recent years, so that isn't happening. Equally, even with us faltering lately, it would take one hell of a collapse for us to be in serious danger down at the bottom with a buffer and some crap teams down there.

I would love us to put some emphasis on the cups, we have a winnable tie and I would go strong with the potential exception of starting Szmodics. Tomasson has a really good record in the cup, it is strange as he often makes wholesale changes, more than Mowbray did so it's not as if his teams have shown more respect necessarily to them but he has done well in them. A black mark last season was the team he put out at home to Forest. Fingers crossed we can go on another run as it could add a bit of excitement to an otherwise potentially underwhelming end to the season,

[Ianrally]

10 hours ago, arbitro said:

 

Sorry for being thick, but what has Hadrians Wall got to do with playing a Welsh team? Offas Dyke would surely be more appropriate. 

[arbitro]

4 minutes ago, Ianrally said:

Sorry for being thick, but what has Hadrians Wall got to do with playing a Welsh team? Offas Dyke would surely be more appropriate. 

Look at the map and where someone in Wrexham thinks Blackburn is.

[bluebruce]

4 minutes ago, Ianrally said:

Sorry for being thick, but what has Hadrians Wall got to do with playing a Welsh team? Offas Dyke would surely be more appropriate. 

Look at the map (you'll probably need to open the full version in Twitter to see it). For some reason they (the Wrexham documentary I think) have plonked us up near Hadrian's Wall! There are a few other oddities on there too, such as QPR on the border with Wales, Newcastle United in the northwest, Everton in the northwest of Wales, etc.

[windymiller7]

14 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

I had 16 of them with 6 minutes left...then only managed another 2! There's only one I'm annoyed I didn't get though, as all the others were from before my time. When the answers popped up, I knew the names but I'd never have got them on my own if I'd been trying to guess it all night. From 1991-92 onwards though, I did pretty well!

You only need to type the surname btw for it to register, that might explain the issue you were having with one...I couldn't get our most recent one to show until I used only their surname.

Just tried again & it still wasn't working (2007-2008 btw) until I did as you suggested and missed off the 'festive' part! 😆

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, wxm801 said:

I very much doubt we'll try to outplay you,  I very much doubt anyone sees that working against Championship quality.

More than likely we will be direct into Palmer, Fletcher or Dalby, whoever plays with Mullin (assuming we haven't signed another striker by then) or over the top / down the channels for Mullin etc to run onto. We'll look to win throw ins near your box for Tozer's long throw. We're pretty good at set pieces with McClean in the side.

Where we struggle is against teams who have a high press and are good at it, lots of teams try the high press but few are very good at it at our level. Also we struggle against pace, particularly running at our back three who aren't the quickest (Bar Hayden) and that's usually how we concede.

Our GK Arthur Okonkwo, who is on loan from Arsenal, is a giant too and looks like the real deal. I'd be well chuffed if we could sign him permanently. 

From both your posts, it sounds like your playing style is anathema to ours, so you're in luck! Bullying, physical teams who excel at set pieces are basically our kryptonite. We have no Plan B either when teams play like this against us, and simply keep trying to play our normal game and formation.

However, what encourages me (aside from being two leagues above you and having home advantage...although that said, our home record is a bit weak and if you fill out a stand with away fans, who are always in better voice than home fans whatever stadium you look at, it could feel more like your home game) is that you say you struggle against teams who are good at pressing. We will work hard and press you, and we're good at it, although a couple of the players who are best at it (Dolan and Gallagher) have been injured for a while and are unlikely to be back in time. Those are also two of our quicker players (although Dolan is only quick over short distances). We also tend to run out of steam at around 70 minutes from pressing most of the game, and with too thin a squad right now to bring quality fresh legs on. You're probably playing us at a very good time (pending how transfers and form go in the next couple of weeks).

It should be an entertaining game with plenty of goals. I'd say the more you actually come at us, the more likely you end up on the end of a hammering (keep in mind we drubbed another team in your league in the FA Cup, Harrogate, 8-0 at their own ground this season, with three goals from fresh Academy players). But if you play solid and uncompromising at the back, let us play outside your box, then hit us with counters when we overcommit, and make the most of set pieces, you could definitely take a scalp. Whether Szmodics plays could also be key. I'm gonna predict it'll be 3-2 to somebody.

Edited January 9 by bluebruce

[had.e.nuff]

13 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Look at the map and where someone in Wrexham thinks Blackburn is.

I did not know Preston Leeds was a local derby