Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’d have put Davenport in for Travis in and left that part of the team as it was. I’d have given some thought to leaving Lenihan at right back and bringing Ayala in.

Definitely agree with the first bit - wouldn't change the back three under any circumstances if they're fit to play. 

3 minutes ago, Angry_Pirate said:

Tombola back out (enforced as it may be)

Any one fancy working out that formation?

I'm expecting (hoping?) there won't actually be that much change, with Buckley playing deeper and Khadra playing as a 10.

Personally I'd have much rather seen Davenport replace Trav, but there we are. 

Trav out with an illness. James Brown on the bench. 

6 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Moving away from a back 3 would be stupidity.

Its just a rumour though and even if the player did join, there is no way that a random journalist knows how we will set up.

Agree. Mowbray has rightly got some stick for being far too eager to change the team, but to be fair he's been pretty consistent in keeping systems in place until it's clear that it isn't working. In fact last season he didn't even change the system after it became obvious that it was holding us back.

Changing to three at the back has signalled our amazing form and the wider footballing community talking about Mowbray as a managerial genius. There isn't a cat in hells chance that he'll change things now to accommodate Ryan Hedges.

41 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

That depends- who the hell is Tom Barclay?

Believe he's Patrick Barclay's lad, so could be reasonably well connected to be fair. 

17 minutes ago, Tugayisgod said:

A 12 month rolling contract would be my guess

Should our good run continue for much longer, I think this should be seen as a sensible option for all parties. 

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

looking forward to tonight game. My team based on Mowbray pre match comments

                           Kaminski 

            Lenihan Van Hecke Wharton

           JRC   Travis   Rothwell   Edun

                         Buckely

              Gallagher Brereton

subs:- Pears Ayala Davenport Johnson Khadra Butterworth Dolan/Markanday 

Would be harsh in the extreme to not play Khadra, assuming he's fully fit of course. Other than that I sincerely hope that JRC can come through this. I believe that Lewis-Potter has been playing left wing back for Hull recently, so most of their attack is probably going to come down Rankin-Costello's side. 

1 hour ago, callumrovers said:

Have a horrible feeling about tomorrow night. Hull takeover is supposedly announced tomorrow afternoon and new chairman in attendance. Could and should give them a massive lift. Plus with us having a shocking record when on sky, I have a terrible feeling.

Pretty important that we start putting that to bed over the next few weeks!

11 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Think the reaction to @Sparks Rover merely questioning the evidence of whether Markanday is good is totally unfair. The usual lines, the boring repeated Whiteman/Mols/Preston jokes, "have a day off" "here we go" "now you are just trying to be difficult" etc are totally unjustified towards a very valid question. 

I am cautiously optimistic, he seems highly rated, Spurs wanted him to stay and im happy that its a long term deal. Looking forward to seeing him play. But I do get why there are question marks seeing as he has literally played about 10 minutes of actual football.

This sums up pretty much exactly where I am with the signing. Very excited about the potential, but you have to acknowledge that a 20 year old with next to no top-level experience may at the very least need some time to adjust. 

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

Presumably we knew what the fee for him was before going in for him (if indeed we are) but is there anything to suggest he's worth anywhere remotely near that sort of money?

What's the standard like in Ligue 2? Genuine question as I've no idea but the standard in Ligue 1 is nowhere near that of the Premier League.

We've also been badly burned before by spending £7m on the top scorer from Serie B in Italy........

🙄

Not the most fair indicator of the quality of the league, but there is some sub-optimal defending going on there (along with some nice finishes too).

21 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Johnson I really think doesn't fit in anywhere except as a really desperate backup for CB. He just gets totally bipassed due to his lack of mobility in midfield. Id trade off a lack of heading ability in the middle for Davenports ability to get around the pitch.

If we lost Travis Daveport would step in, if we lost Rothwell we'd drop Buckley into midfield and play Dolan, Gallagher, Markanday or Dack through the middle up top. Not perfect but pretty good I would say.

Main issue would be losing Rothwells running from midfield but Buckley can do a bit of that, and his excellent passing would give something extra.

I think we rate Johnson slightly differently. I'm no massive fan & I'd start Davenport over him, but when he's on his game he doesn't tend to get bypassed that much in my view. He has been maddeningly inconsistent though, and when he's not on form his lack of mobility stands out like a sore thumb. Luckily most teams at this level don't have the players to exploit that too often - so I think his power and crafty game management makes him a useful option to sure things up, especially if we're protecting a lead. He has his moments with the ball at his feet too, but obviously these are few and far between.

That said, I agree that if we lost Travis for any length of time and we couldn't play Edun there because he's on the left, I'd definitely rather see Davenport as his replacement. 

5 minutes ago, S8 & Blue said:

Nor Dack as seen suggested here. Dack contributes for a start. 13 goals in the Champ throughout his entire career! Have no idea why the hype train has always been so high.

Really surprised by that! I know he plays pretty deep, but I still would've thought he would've managed far more than 13. That's the record of an average centre back. Charlie Mulgrew almost beat that in one year!

Always one of those players who looks better on highlights reels. 

42 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Davenport could step into this starting XI no problem - I've no idea why he doesn't get more playing time. How Johnson is preferred to him is beyond me.

For all the talk of Mowbray having favourites and not treating others equally (Nyambe, Rothwell, the idea that Travis was kept out of the team for too long, etc.) Davenport is the one who can feel genuinely hard done by in my opinion. Injuries have been horrible, but he's been fit for a while now and has never been given a half decent run in the team. Makes sense now that the Rothwell/Travis/Buckley midfield is so nicely balanced, but there's no reason at all why he didn't get more game time last season for me. I'll be sad to see him go at the end of the year (assuming he will, of course) and I think he would be a very shrewd signing for someone. 

Having said that, I can understand why Johnson has come on for 20 minutes here and there to see games out. We all know that his passing can be very hit and miss, but his physicality can be a real asset. 

14 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Thankfully we’ve had 24 hours on them to plan for Wednesday. TM’s team talk really should be done for him for this one.

Yes - we were hard done to with the circumstances of the first game being called off, but we probably couldn't have picked a better date for the rearranged fixture. Extra day's prep on Hull and and then the best part of a week to prepare for our next game on Monday. 

15 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

A lot depends on how Dike gets on.

Completely. If they were half as clinical as we have been, let alone Fulham, then they would at least be up there at the top along with us and the other two, if not a little in front of us. 

Dike delivering the same as he did for Ismael at Barnsley and they could easily still challenge the automatics. 

What a result

4 hours ago, JoeH said:

Jake Batty is something else. A future Rovers legend in the making down the left! Great display from the whole team, I think they'll go all the way.

Not that I'm in favour of rushing players in before they're ready, but what would you guess his chances of coping in the first team would be if we go a game or two without being able to play Pickering or Edun there?

Just seen that he turns 17 in a couple of months, so obviously still very young, but at the same time we're clearly short of senior players who can slot in there should those two not be available. 

No Keiffer Moore for Cardiff on Saturday. He's not been on the best of form and I'd have been fairly confident that our new system would keep him quiet anyway, but still big shoes to fill for them.

1 hour ago, briansol said:

As someone mentioned, Johnson can play as a make-shift centre-back, and Nyambe can probably do a job centrally in a crisis.

Yes I agree that Carter probably is the better option, but in my opinion it will far more beneficial for him and the club to allow him to go on loan. He has outgrown U23 and if he plays there he is only stands in the way of the next batch, but that is the only way for him to have some match fitness.

We kept all the youngster from going on loan in august, which they suffered from a development standpoint. The only option left after the transfer deadline was Non-League loans.

Agree with this. It's a bit of a risk, but one worth taking for his development. 12 months without football at his age when he's good enough for L1 isn't acceptable if we see him as a prospect. 

9 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

It used to be £100,000 for every home game moved for TV (which was slightly increased if it was moved to a Sunday or a Thursday) and £10,000 for every away game moved a couple of years ago I read.

Not sure if its increased since or not.

Thanks, didn't realise that there was a difference between home and away games - although obviously that makes sense with loss of revenue.

Sounds like we'll obviously lose a little with lost ticket prices, along with the Fisher sell on we could be due an extra roughly £500k this month which we didn't expect. Chicken feed in the context of our debt - but still pretty welcome given given how much comes into the coffers these days. 

Talk about feast and famine. That's about 2 years worth of televised fixtures in less than 2 months! Hope our good form and sensible ticket pricing means our home attendances don't suffer too much.

Does anyone have a handle on how much extra cash the club will see for each game?

1 minute ago, nbdelboy said:

mail linking us with callum brittain

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10390403/Blackburn-Stoke-Swansea-three-way-tussle-Barnsleys-Callum-Brittain.html

One of Nixon's more insightful comments when he was still on here was that 3 clubs in a story is often a sign of an agent at work. I'd guess that this is just that if the Dutch lad ends up signing in the next day or so, although he did look decent when Barnsley were at Ewood a few weeks back. 

If there was one benefit of the FA cup game, it's that it reinforced that the team that's been picking up points in the league needs to stay. Assuming Nyambe & Lenihan can play, the team picks itself.

I feel that this is quite an important game after the last two. Not at our best against a resilient Huddersfield, but a decent enough point in the context of our recent form. Wigan was a freak occurrence with their goals and was a cup game when all is said and done. Even so, a loss (or maybe even a draw) here and suddenly there's danger of seeing clouds in our otherwise clear blue sky.

Cardiff don't impress me one bit, but then again every away in the Championship has the potential to be tough. They'll also remember being put to the sword earlier in the campaign, so will want to get some pride back from then. Hopefully we open the scoring and then I'd be pretty confident of us seeing it out. 

Not much to add to the above, other than he impressed in a season where other defenders found it pretty difficult to. I think this has just as much to do with how we set up as it does the ability of the players, but even so he put one or two more established players to shame a bit last season.

I can see where @S8 & Blue is coming from though if there's no chance of getting him beyond the end of the season. His potential is fantastic, but for the window we had him he was a good level Championship defender. 

7 minutes ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

 

Hopefully this is just mind games, Like the time we put an official 4 million bid in for Cantona in the mid 90s just to piss man u off after they spent the summer trying to unsettle Shearer (hahaha that was funny)

Hopefully more like that and less like when we actually signed Duncan Shearer!