v Cardiff City (a) - 20/02/2024, 19:45

[tomphil]

48 minutes ago, booth said:

I'd have taken the point beforehand and thank goodness is wasn't another loss, but a "tricky game"? Cardiff were possibly the worst opposition team I've seen this season and if expectations weren't so low we'd be unanimous lamenting a good opportunity to take all three points.

Also I'm not sure how you can say we're going the right way. A better team would have punished us which is quite worrying going forward.  There was dicking about at the back, silly cross field passes and poor defending so I can only imagine those saying we're more pragmatic weren't watching.

Edit: just pointing out, I'm not blaming Eustace here (as someone suggested last night) just as I wasn't blaming JDT. He's not got much to work with and some of these players have underperformed for 2 managers now, in some cases 3. With even a slight upgrade (a decent fucking midfielder to replace Wharton would be nice) we could have taken 3 points last night.

Of course we are going the right way that's 5 points from 4 games in a very short space of time when it was looking like a lot less.

Where was this miraculous change around in results under JDT coming from ?   I certainly didn't see it and why has it suddenly been forgotten that we lost at home to a shite QPR and Hudds team, away to Hudds 0-3 and how did we do against Rotherham ?

Yet all of a sudden Cardiff away we should be walking over ?

Make it make sense, a point away there and a stodgy performance is decent enough in the grand scheme of things. I like a moan where it's justified but some people have lost touch on reality.

[tomphil]

27 minutes ago, superniko said:

You sound like the players in their Waggott meeting - is that you Dom Hyam complaining about negativity?

What you wrote was factually incorrect. I corrected you and your reply is 'wHaT aBOuT sOmE POsiTIviTy?' I'll be positive when there is something to be positive about. 

It wasn't a tricky game, they'd won 1 in 7 and not scored at home in 3. Basically have the same form over 10, 15, 20 games as we do. We had 2 shots in the whole match (one was Hyam from 50 yards), the worse of the two teams again, got away with a 0-0 draw, play like that all season and we're finishing rock bottom as variance events itself out and that match finishes in defeat more than it does victory.

 

Give me a shout when you find reality again.

[Bbrovers2288]

The only thing eustace can be judged on at the moment is keeping us in the league

after that we can worry about summer transfers and styles of football 

I’m still nervy as although there is a fair few teams between us at that last relegation spot, they are all capable of stringing some results together, it’s making sure we win the games we need to win

i hope now we are back at home the waggot out chants and banners return as since we have had 3 away it feels like the absolute mess behind the scenes is just being forgotten about again. Nobody is taking accountability for that January window 

[DE.]

Way too early to be talking about Eustace's "style", he's barely been at the club five minutes. What we're seeing is a back to basics approach to try and reduce the amount of goals we're conceding and stop losing. For the most part that has improved things, and we'll probably be in this firefighting mode until end of season, so expect plenty more turgid performances. If it scrapes enough points to keep us in the division then that'll be job done for Waggott and Venky's until they continue operation oblivion in the summer and decimate what's left of the team. 

I'd say we'll likely see more what Eustace is about next season (much like it took six months or so before we really starting seeing JDT's footballing philosophy coming through properly) but lord knows what he'll be left with to try and survive again, assuming we don't drop this season. 

[TheRovers1994]

14 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

The likes of Vale, Ennis, Leonard and Telalovic make Gally look like Haaland - but he isn’t.

Harsh on Leanord he’s a good goalscorer chips in with a few just needs further experience so needs a loan, semir is another brereton it’s gonna take him time to get up to scratch 

[TheRovers1994]

Don’t get the moaning ? Eustace first objective is to keep us up regardless of brand of football, people were moaning about jdt’s football and rightly so that got us nowhere, you can’t play city style with championship or lower standard players, plus intense training system that has clearly contributed to ridiculous amount of injuries, also on top of that he moaned about needing experience yet loaned two of them out who are also academy lads cause he had fallen out with them then he’s gone a month later so travis sitting on the Ipswich bench is a waste when we need him now more than ever, Buckley coming back is a god send cause imagine if he never got injured in Sheffield and was still there ? Our midfield would be piss weak only tronsdad as a decent player. 
 

First thing any manager worth his salt knows is you tighten up your defence then worry about the other areas that’s what he’s doing. 
 

we ain’t gonna see the best of eustace until next season, it’s about getting the basics back and building the foundation to move forward, Travis back in summer to reunite with Buckley is already gonna make our midfield look a lot better, biggest thing I criticise jdt for is leaving us short cause of his ego, Travis as option  could have seen us best Preston alone. gilesnan is a long term replacement for szmodics too. 
 

the 532/352 is what’s best suited to us, we’ve no decent out and out wingers to play a winger system our squad is bette suited to wing backs, brittain and Pickering are not the best defensively especially on a consistent basis so they tend to look better knowing they have that cover to be able to do their attacking roles. Gallagher stays on then we need a couple strikers, you look at why pne are solid in this league and flirt with play offs a bit is cause they have 4 decent goalscorers as strikers that’s what’s gathered my attention and what we need, Dolan isn’t good enough in any position tbh or at least his consistency is poor so I would rid of him n the summer for cash, Leanord Garret, semir needs loans out, deadwood like Markanday out too. 
 

I don’t know about you guys but would like to see mcfadzean stay on as player defence coach beyond the summer which leaves us with defensive options Wharton, hyam, Carter, o’riordan, mcfadzean which is much healthier than over the last so many years and well balanced

[booth]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

Of course we are going the right way that's 5 points from 4 games in a very short space of time when it was looking like a lot less.

Where was this miraculous change around in results under JDT coming from ?   I certainly didn't see it and why has it suddenly been forgotten that we lost at home to a shite QPR and Hudds team, away to Hudds 0-3 and how did we do against Rotherham ?

Yet all of a sudden Cardiff away we should be walking over ?

Make it make sense, a point away there and a stodgy performance is decent enough in the grand scheme of things. I like a moan where it's justified but some people have lost touch on reality.

QPR and Hudds at least brought a fight. Cardiff were shocking.

We need an improvement if we're to gain points against better teams, that's the reality. We need our better players like Szmodics doing a job for us, he was very poor last night and a big reason we couldn't string an offensive move together.

Swansea, Millwall and Rotherham upcoming. We need to be picking up 3 points from teams around us because we aren't going to draw many games playing like that against the teams above us. Last nights performance was a massive downgrade on the Preston game.

There was never going to be a miraculous change around in results either way.

[tomphil]

18 minutes ago, TheRovers1994 said:

Harsh on Leanord he’s a good goalscorer chips in with a few just needs further experience so needs a loan, semir is another brereton it’s gonna take him time to get up to scratch 

Leonard looks lively but isn't in the realms of good goalscorer yet if he was he'd be starting every time he was fit.

Iv'e seen these Telalovic comparisons frequently with BBD but those making them seem oblivious to the fact he is 24 not 18/19 as BBD was.  Therefore he doesn't have that kind of time on his side he is a regular squad member here and needs to be able to contribute something.

If he is anything he is the new Nuttall he'll bang them in all day away from first team but at that level he's miles away and it isn't down to youth, it's down the levels of ability.

[tomphil]

3 minutes ago, booth said:

QPR and Hudds at least brought a fight. Cardiff were shocking.

We need an improvement if we're to gain points against better teams, that's the reality. We need our better players like Szmodics doing a job for us, he was very poor last night and a big reason we couldn't string an offensive move together.

Swansea, Millwall and Rotherham upcoming. We need to be picking up 3 points from teams around us because we aren't going to draw many games playing like that against the teams above us. Last nights performance was a massive downgrade on the Preston game.

There was never going to be a miraculous change around in results either way.

Yep Smodz had a poor game in terms of quality and after he moaned about a couple of short passes to him he then gave it away himself in good positions 3 or 4 times.

However he still grafted his nuts off, chased down and tackled back which was vital to the team last night so again it's about the bigger picture.  Last night was all about getting some sort of result using what we had and putting performance behind the need for points.  Exactly what JDT needed to do but wouldn't and exactly what a lot have been screaming for.

Like i said i like a moan but judging from many comments on last night a lot of perspective has been lost, all i was bothered about is 'don't lose, don't throw it away again, don't get caught on the break or let a set piece in.' we didn't.

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

You can't really count the Wrexham game against League 2 opposition.

Has he really looked that good since he came back. Reportedly dire against Birmingham and again last night.

He certainly has been a breath of fresh air compared to who we have had up top for the rest of the season. He has looked good and has offered a threat we didnt have, 2 good finishes v QPR and Preston even if we discount the Wrexham one which seemingly doesnt fit the agenda. But his whole round game gives us something we dont have otherwise, his power, his height and his pace, plus an excellent knock down for Dolan v Stoke and a brilliant ball for Szmodics at the weekend.

Even if we write off the Birmingham and Cardiff games, where he barely got a kick due to those behind him struggling to pass it 5 yards, his impact is much more positive than negative.

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

That’s only because we wouldn’t have replaced him. We couldn’t even sign a player that had come over here with the express reason of signing for us ! We’d have been stuck with Vale, Leonard and Telalovic, if you rolled all of those three together you wouldn’t have an adequate replacement.

Gally has about 1 decent game in every 3 or 4 matches. 

Even if we had signed him, we needed Gallagher as you cant just have one (presumably) decent Championship striker, Gallagher is one. Nothing special.

[jim mk2]

1 minute ago, roversfan99 said:

He certainly has been a breath of fresh air compared to who we have had up top for the rest of the season. He has looked good and has offered a threat we didnt have, 2 good finishes v QPR and Preston even if we discount the Wrexham one which seemingly doesnt fit the agenda. But his whole round game gives us something we dont have otherwise, his power, his height and his pace, plus an excellent knock down for Dolan v Stoke and a brilliant ball for Szmodics at the weekend.

 

 

Blimey, that's a very rose-tinted view of a very average player who for a man of his size and physique has very little power, isn't particularly quick and cannot outjump players 6 inches of more shorter than him

Don't get me wrong, he has a part to play and we need him at the moment but let's not get carried away

[jim mk2]

39 minutes ago, TheRovers1994 said:

Harsh on Leanord he’s a good goalscorer chips in with a few just needs further experience so needs a loan, semir is another brereton it’s gonna take him time to get up to scratch 

I don't see how he can be labelled a good goalscorer when he misses more than he scores. Sorry - just don't rate the lad. I've also seen nothing which suggests Telalovic might develop into a Brereton. And he's 24 too, not a youngster. This is probably as good as he'll ever be

[roversfan99]

49 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

 

Blimey, that's a very rose-tinted view of a very average player who for a man of his size and physique has very little power, isn't particularly quick and cannot outjump players 6 inches of more shorter than him

Don't get me wrong, he has a part to play and we need him at the moment but let's not get carried away

I think he is an average Championship striker. Ive also not been his biggest fan over the years. But I think its allowing confirmation bias to overule rational thought not to be willing to say that he has been good since he returned.

He is what he is, he will never be prolific nor a top Championship striker, he is a mid table one. The alternatives are dire but even if we could spent the 1-2 million on another striker, it wouldnt be the really easy task people make out to get one as useful as him. And we need at least 2 competent strikers so even if we somehow for example agreed a summer deal for McGuire, we would need another one and it wouldnt be a certainty that either/both would be as effective as Gallagher.

[oneandycrawford]

5 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

If we had have sold him we would be favourites for relegation. He has been a big plus since he returned from injury not only with his 3 goals and 4 assists but with what else he brings. We need to get every minute we possibly can out of him whilst not allowing him to get injured. Im guessing that you couldnt bring yourself to admit that he has looked good since he came back.

Tbh it's almost irrelevant whether he has looked good or not. The reality is he is the best forward we've got in terms of current capability and the style(?) we are currently playing. Leonard may develop into a better player - who knows - but he isn't at the moment. 

Shows how far we have fallen that a lot of our discussions now are whether player 'x' must be in the team because he's not quite as bad as player 'y'!!

[KentExile]

2 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

I don't see how he can be labelled a good goalscorer when he misses more than he scores. Sorry - just don't rate the lad. I've also seen nothing which suggests Telalovic might develop into a Brereton. And he's 24 too, not a youngster. This is probably as good as he'll ever be

All strikers miss more than they score... by some margin

Haaland only has a shots to goals conversion rate of 25%, so by the definition you have given, he is not a good goal scorer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/top-scorers

Incidentally, Gallys shots to goals conversion rate is 28%

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/blackburn-rovers/top-scorers

Edit - No I am not saying Gally is anywhere near that level, just that "missing more than he scores" is a metric that does not give the full picture

2nd Edit, just noticed you were talking about Leonard, not sure where I got the Gally angle from, but the main point in my post stands.  "missing more than he scores" is a metric that does not give the full picture.

Edited February 21 by KentExile

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

 

Blimey, that's a very rose-tinted view of a very average player who for a man of his size and physique has very little power, isn't particularly quick and cannot outjump players 6 inches of more shorter than him

Don't get me wrong, he has a part to play and we need him at the moment but let's not get carried away

Plus at the moment he’s only got 60 minutes in the tank. After that we have to sub on whichever inferior player gets the nod. It would have been nice to have brought on McGuire and maybe up our game instead of going into our shell just at the wrong time.

[aletheia]

9 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

A terrible offensive performance but nevertheless a first clean sheet since November and a point on the road are huge positives. As are 5pts in 4 games since the managerial change vs 5pts in the previous 11.

If Dolan pops that chance away and we win  1-0 then it’s a peak Allardyce style win. But the more I watch JE, the more I get Hughes vibes. Hughes focused initially on being hard to beat, creating a togetherness ‘us against the world’ and deploying a pragmatic approach. Then once the base was set, added those attacking patterns and suddenly you have a very capable team.

For as long as the lads are behind him, JE has the chance to turn the ship around. I said a week ago that I didn’t expect to see a Eustace style team until we were safe and most likely not until next season. I stand by that…

I look forward to seeing those patterns, capable team, the ship turned around and a JE syle team next season. The clock is ticking for SWAG and the Rao's.

[jim mk2]

18 minutes ago, KentExile said:

2nd Edit, just noticed you were talking about Leonard, not sure where I got the Gally angle from, but the main point in my post stands.  "missing more than he scores" is a metric that does not give the full picture.

The big picture with Leonard is he contributes very little outside the box so if he's not taking his chances and scoring goals there's very little point him being in the team except to fill a shirt because we're so desperate at the moment.

I suppose I still haven't forgiven him for missing a golden chance at the start of the second half when he was through on goal with just the keeper to beat in the league cup tie at Chelsea. I was right behind the goal and everyone around us couldn't believe he missed. 

Just don't rate the lad - sorry

 

[harryhealless1928]

Cannot understand the negativity over what was our first clean sheet of the year.

Once upon a time both Big Sam & Lambert would go beserk repeating the mantra about clean sheets and how absolutely wonderful they were. As lambert correctly pointed out what was the point of having 2(yes two) top goalscorers in the Championship in Jordan Rhodes AND Rudi Gestede(as well as Josh King)and not even being remotely near the play-off spots.

JDTs brand of football was great to watch(when it worked)but VERY high risk and the goals conceded really were something else. Two at the back?? Come on now!!

 

[DE.]

Interestingly in 2014/15 when we finished 9th, 11 points off the playoffs, we actually conceded less than the previous year when we'd finished 8th and only 2 points of the playoffs (59 conceded in 14/15, 62 conceded in 13/14). We also only scored 4 less goals (66 in 14/15 and 70 in 13/14). The division was just a lot stronger in 14/15. The teams above us scored more goals and conceded less than the year before. Brighton took 6th spot in 13/14 with 72 points, whereas Ipswich took 6th with 78 points in 14/15. We didn't really decline, we just didn't improve whilst other teams around us did. Adding Gestede to the mix for a full season didn't really help improve on 13/14 (when Rhodes was the only player we had in the top ten Champ goalscorers) as others evidently did not contribute as much as they had the season prior in terms of putting the ball in the net.

I consider 13/14, when we didn't have Gestede in the top scorer charts, as far more of a wasted opportunity than 14/15. The 0-0 at home to Yeovil will always stick in the memory as particularly infuriating. Ultimately even if we had won that match we still would have lost out on GD, assuming results went the same way for other teams in the run in, but if we'd won that game then more pressure would have been on the teams around us and who knows what happens next. With that said, considering we've been a soft touch since Venky's turned up, we probably would have found a way to blow it anyway.   

Edited February 21 by DE.

[tomphil]

2 hours ago, harryhealless1928 said:

Cannot understand the negativity over what was our first clean sheet of the year.

Once upon a time both Big Sam & Lambert would go beserk repeating the mantra about clean sheets and how absolutely wonderful they were. As lambert correctly pointed out what was the point of having 2(yes two) top goalscorers in the Championship in Jordan Rhodes AND Rudi Gestede(as well as Josh King)and not even being remotely near the play-off spots.

JDTs brand of football was great to watch(when it worked)but VERY high risk and the goals conceded really were something else. Two at the back?? Come on now!!

 

It will take some time for that to sink in and the anger should always be at those who didn't harness what we had with JDT and took his tools away instead of trying to give him the right ones.

He was far from flawless himself and added to his own demise but non of any of that is Eustaces fault he's been given a task and will go about it the best way he can with what he has. There were many rank bad performances away from home under Mowbray and i think Eustace style will be very similar but working with far less at his disposal.

[Herbie6590]

Rich Sharpe’s latest blog…

https://www.brfcs.com/magazine/articles/project-points/502

[Herbie6590]

 

[NeilInBristol]

8 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

 

That says something doesn't it. Our defender kept us steady but that's all we expect from the squad ATM. We should be beating Cardiff but oh well

[47er]

9 hours ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

The only thing eustace can be judged on at the moment is keeping us in the league

after that we can worry about summer transfers and styles of football 

The thing is---will we be just be strung along again?

Escape relegation, look forward to a decent transfer window, listen to the exciting plans from the club and then?

A big, fat nothing is my guess. There's only so much you can take.

Last chance saloon this summer Rovers. If we stay up that is.

Edited February 21 by 47er