v Stoke City (h) - 6/11/2024

[Blue blood]

Of the limited amount I've seen/heard and read of Rovers this season it's utterly clear that the bargain basement approach is really coming home to roost. No quality offensively and no one to step up - in fact most of our top scorers have all needed a season or two to bed in - means that the issues in attack has been carefully crafted over the past couple of years. 

Of our attacking options, where do you start? 

The Japanese lad was worth a punt. We've always had punts to find strikers - remember Jeffers and Fowler. Difference was back then these punts were combined with investment in strikers and proven talent. As it is I think he's probably an OK squad player/impact sub and probably plays at the level of the team. He won't pull the team up, but in a decent squad as a squad player he'd not disgrace himself. Can see why we went for him, just his role in the team is above his level. 

Gueye - looks lost and a few levels above his ability. That said since he's meant to make it awkward for defences, which is his best (using the term relatively) skill, having no one up front to capitalise is a waste of his very limited talents. Imagine playing Roberts up front under Hughes on his own, he'd have had a fraction of the impact. Misuse aside he's not much use. 

Weimann - when someone is released by a lower mid table championship outfit the wrong side of 30, alarm bells should be ringing. If he's not good enough for a limited Bristol side, who are where we "aspire " to be, why bring him in? A worrying transfer, whose asset of experience is overly magnified by the derth of it elsewhere. 

Dolan - controversially I like him. He's a one trick pony but when it works it's very good. Problem is it only works about 1 in every 3 or 4 games. In other games he's useless. In a squad game having Dolan in the squad as an option for when it works or you want something different is fine. When you are relying on something that, perhaps charitably, only works a third or quarter of the time, and it's that integral to your plans, it's asking for trouble. 

Hedges - the forward version of Jason Lowe. A good engine but a useless footballer well above his level. 

Cantwell- to me he's an enhancer and creator, whose usefulness is massively undermined by the fact we a) have forwards who can't finish chances and b) have no pace or good movement in the rest of the front line. With that being the case, and him needing to play in the hole - when all our striking options need someone up front with them - we really aren't going to get the best out of him. 

Leonard - jury still out for me on him. Better than other young players I've seen and has potential but yet to be convinced.

The formarion - whilst our defensive mids are probably our strongest area, having both in the team means we are essentially playing with 6 defenders and 4 very limited attackers. With only 4 offensive players it's not a good start even before we consider their quality. The rest of the team has to offer more going forwards. 

As I type I recognise the issue is probably more with the defence than the 2 sitting mids. If the full backs offered more going forwards. - and probably.JRC could/should fulfil this - then 2 sitting mids is less of an issue. That said if the centre defence wasn't ancient/slow/poor the full backs could push up more. Even without Venkys stinginess we couldn't alter a whole team so two strong defensive mids is fine,  if the rest of the team is any good. But ahead and behind they aren't really. 

Rant over but it's no wonder we don't score. 

[Armchair supporter supremo]

Jesus it's like mowbrays reign all over again but without the attacking players that he had at his disposal 

[arbitro]

You don't need to be a football genius to see what the problem was tonight. We probably created more chances than we have in any other game this season but couldn't score. Fair enough their keeper was inspired (he usually is against us - I'd have loved him here) but the number of good chances we failed to convert was our downfall. Hedges, Ohashi, Leonard and Gueye should all have scored but when you don't you are susceptible and when you have the sloth like centre halves we do then you are at risk. Eustace disappointed me tonight with his changes and the timing of them. It was clear early on that Stoke were happy with a point and we didn't capitalise on this with another striker on the pitch at half time to try and get the all important first goal. Instead his change was Ohashi off for Gueye. When he finally brought Leonard on with six minutes to go and we got some decent balls into the box we looked far better and Stoke were rattled. I guess that's the price we have to pay for a cautious manager. After the last three games we need to get back to basics and with that in mind I believe he should go five at the back on Saturday and try to grind a result out to get some confidence back. Oh and Stoke were the worst footballing team I've seen at Ewood this season but their shithousery was good. Some of our lot take note.

[M_B]

11 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

If Gueye had just let the ball hit him in his face it would have gone in. 

Just screenshot that and sent it my daughter, said the same word for word walking back to the car.

[Torgeir]

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24706258.eustaces-defiant-blackburn-rovers-verdict-despite-defeat/

[simongarnerisgod]

Just now, Torgeir said:

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24706258.eustaces-defiant-blackburn-rovers-verdict-despite-defeat/

sorry john i beg to differ,the rest of the division has sussed us out and you need to tweak the system and get more players forward,i suggest you sit in the stand because you obviously can`t see what the rest of us can while you are on the touchline

[J*B]

57 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

@J*B Can we just have this as the site banner?

Rudy says we should be grateful. 

[London blue]

1 minute ago, Torgeir said:

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/24706258.eustaces-defiant-blackburn-rovers-verdict-despite-defeat/

I get it, but also piss off.

The game was there to be had and he yet again left points on the table. 

Then we went behind, at home, to a very limited side. He made the same sub he always does and gave Leonard what, 7 minutes? Sick to death of mediocrity not only being accepted, but rewarded.

[LDRover]

12 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

no sammie to convert the chances this season,replaced by a willing but lightweight japanese lad and someone from belgium who struggles to resemble a footballer😕

Careful.....the pitchforks will be out for you

[M_B]

Just how one ref sees fit to give a handball against Hedges at Watford, and another not give at least one penalty for handball tonight, is a thing of mystery.

[roverblue]

Time for the relegation thread please.

For the first time this season I’d be critical of the manager as well. He’s got a hard job but took far too long to make changes tonight and lacks ambition to get us back in the game. Should have thrown the kitchen sink at it rather than just swapping Ohashi for Gueye.

His saving grace was the defensive side but that’s long gone to shit now as well.

Edited November 6 by roverblue

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

4 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

sorry john i beg to differ,the rest of the division has sussed us out and you need to tweak the system and get more players forward,i suggest you sit in the stand because you obviously can`t see what the rest of us can while you are on the touchline

Watching the U-21’s last night was the same, not enough players forward. Somebody eventuality gets a cross in and if it misses the one player forward that’s it.

[booth]

3 minutes ago, M_B said:

Just how one ref sees fit to give a handball against Hedges at Watford, and another not give at least one penalty for handball tonight, is a thing of mystery.

How some of our players got to a professional level of football is another mystery of the universe.

[simongarnerisgod]

i bet cantwell wished he had stopped at rangers,absolutely the best player on the pitch by a distance,handicapped by a manager negative manager and players not on his wavelength

[Devon Rover]

4 minutes ago, M_B said:

Just how one ref sees fit to give a handball against Hedges at Watford, and another not give at least one penalty for handball tonight, is a thing of mystery.

I'm not going to let this bother me as I would honestly be amazed if we converted a penalty awarded our way.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, roverblue said:

Time for the relegation thread please.

For the first time this season I’d be critical of the manager as well. He’s got a hard job but took far too long to make changes tonight and lacks ambition with to get us back in the game. Should have thrown the kitchen sink at it rather than just swapping Ohashi for Gueye.

His saving grace is as the defensive side but that’s long gone to shit now as well.

The only reason to have 7 at the back is to get clean sheets. We have 7 at the back and we’re still conceding every game. Something has to change. As we all know “goals change games”, but you need to score first to change games

[Paul Mani]

I’m happy to castigate the manager. We were poor against Sheff United, but honestly, the manger can’t do more than he’s done tonight. Put players on the pitch in positions to play their game.

The number of absolute sitters weve missed in the last three games (I’ve counted 7) is unbelievable. Hyam and Weimann at Watford. Hedges at the back post vs West Brom and Hedges, Ohashi, Gueye and Leonard tonight. Then when we actually smashed the ball goalwards, Johannson was unbeatable. Not our day…

I fuckin hate football. 🤣🤣

[booth]

"I think when they scored the second goal, we lost a bit of belief on the pitch which was disappointing."

 

So much wrong with that statement.

[booth]

3 minutes ago, Devon Rover said:

I'm not going to let this bother me as I would honestly be amazed if we converted a penalty awarded our way.

You've just given me a terrible flash forward of seeing Gueye getting ready for a penalty, big grin on his face, shambling around like he's on Soccer AM after a night on the pop.

[Paul Mani]

3 minutes ago, roverblue said:

Time for the relegation thread please.

For the first time this season I’d be critical of the manager as well. He’s got a hard job but took far too long to make changes tonight and lacks ambition to get us back in the game. Should have thrown the kitchen sink at it rather than just swapping Ohashi for Gueye.

His saving grace was the defensive side but that’s long gone to shit now as well.

Nah, I 100% disagree. It’d have been really hard to change that tonight. We were literally creating chances at will. The manger can’t do anymore than to put a team out that is effecting the game….we missed the Leonard chance and Johannson made two great saves AFTER the second goal went in!!

The manager has got games wrong this season. Today wasn’t one of them. 

[simongarnerisgod]

2 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Watching the U-21’s last night was the same, not enough players forward. Somebody eventuality gets a cross in and if it misses the one player forward that’s it.

it`s a different game to what i grew up with,which was get control of midfield,get it wide and get it forwards quickly,the main point of it was to get centre backs running towards their own goal,which they hate!!! really simple

[BlackburnEnd75]

Very worrying, the lack of ability in the final third really starting to show.

I don't agree with eustaces team selection especially the wingers and I was very disappointed with his hesitancy to change the attacking line in the second half.

That's said we're stuck with the players we have and that's on the venkys.

The real and only positive for me was cantwell. He's a class above and created 2 fantastic chances, and kept getting the ball on the half turn driving at their back 4. Problem is the runs were largely poor and lacking in numbers. We then proceed to miss every chance we made.

Gueye - I thought he'd score more if we actually put the ball on his head in the box. I was wrong. 

Weimann - hes got it between the ears but he's past it. I've no idea why he plays so frequently.

Hedges - very poor. Wasted his big chance, got the ball in plenty of space down the left and did nothing with it. Dolan was an upgrade off the bench, which says it all.

Ohashi - isnt as bad as gueye, has shown patches of quality. Isn't doing it right now.

Leonard - missed his chance, I'd give him a run up top to see if he can do it.

 

[alcd]

49 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Those clamouring for Leonard up top, he showed in 10 minutes why he isn’t. I have never rated him 

His finishing is feeble and unfocused even though he gets into good positions. Also has zero pace. Probably won't make it at this level. Could be useful in L1 next season. 

 

[booth]

Would it be inflammatory of me to say we're now worse off than under Tomasson at the same stage?

Some posters were critical when I pointed out we had the same amount of points at the same time as last season last weekend. Well it's now more games than JDT and less points.

[Hasta]

56 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Those clamouring for Leonard up top, he showed in 10 minutes why he isn’t. I have never rated him 

No one was clamouring for him to start up top in the summer.  But when your choices are Yuki, Gueye and Leonard, there’s a chance he’s better than the other 2. One of them has to start.