1 hour ago, HowieFive0 said:

Championship considering going back to allowing Five subs per game.

An advantage with a FULLY  fit Rovers squad ?

Really hope this isn't a permanent change, but there's little doubt that this should benefit a side with our depth for this season. 

We're at our best too when we're playing and pressing at a high tempo, so hopefully this will help us maintain that with having just a few days between games. 

Number 9 on his back - almost certainly reading too much into it, but a clue to his eventual position? 

Just now, K-Hod said:

Safe to say, he will do his usual, get them tight at the back, make them hard to beat and probably keep them up, against the odds.

Won’t be pretty, but it will be effective!

Now, has anyone at Wednesday got a good long throw?

Probably right, but looking at the playing squad it doesn't look like a great fit. Rhodes/Marriot/Windass aren't the sort of battering rams that Pulis would want, and the likes of Bannan and Brown will get a shock to the system!

4 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I have a bit of sympathy for the lad. Unlike many of his 'knocks' or 'tweaks' or 'bruises' picked up in his time here there can be no doubt that his latest setback was a genuine one and he'll be gutted to be missing a huge play off game for his country.

Having said that if they get through to the tournament then he'll have plenty of time to get himself ready for that.

Where do we go from here with him? Tough one for me. Only last year him and Travis had struck up a great partnership in midfield and he was playing well, arguably to the best level he had ever done in his time here. The seemingly endless succession of injuries since this time last year have almost become comical. The one against PNE was a freak and potentially career ending event. He did well to come back from that quite quickly all things considered but then the bizarre ones since then just make you wonder. Is he just soft and looking for these sort of things? Is his body just very fragile and susceptible to knocks more than most?

Given the number of players we have out of contract and loan come the summer we've a hell of a rebuild on our hands coming up. I'm just a little reluctant to add to that exodus bearing in mind what the alternatives may be, but clearly if he is only going to be available for half a season the club may need to form a view on that. The annoying thing for me is I think there is a decent player in there that someone else will get a tune out of.

Good post - I agree with most of it but I'm not as concerned about him joining an exodus of players. If we can use his wages to top up offers to a couple of our OOC players, it'll be money well spent.

On his form, I think he's very rarely been asked to play in a system that suits his game - a ball winner & recycler who leaves getting over the halfway line to more talented players. He never had the legs to play in a 442, and yet that's mainly where he played until Mowbray came along. Our win % when he played with Travis was very good indeed, so there's a player in there when fit and in the right system.

Unfortunately for him, our new style is not that system, as his pretty poor performances this season demonstrate. That, along with his age and dreadful injury record means that we should be looking to phase him out and ultimately, let him go, but in doing so we should see him as unlucky rather than someone looking to dodge games in my opinion. 

4 hours ago, ben_the_beast said:

I think everyone is right. Buckley does look forward and play a lot of 'progressive passes' and generally speaking looks to get the team moving forwards. He's very good like that. He's also got the physicality of a field mouse. He doesn't need to be stacked but he does need to put some muscle on. Peoples bodies develop at different speeds. He's got the physique of a child. This should change at some point and he'll become more imposing. 

When he hits the age of about 23 I think he will be quality. It's what Fergie used to say about Jessie Lingard. (Yes I know he turned crap again) Every player develops at their own speed. Buckley has learnt to cope to an extent in mens football through technique. When the rest comes he'll be very good. 

I think this is spot on. You mention Lingard, but as a player his style (although obviously not his level of ability) reminds me so much of Paul Scholes, who everyone forgets only developed into the player he became well into his 20s.

Gary Neville was on the Quickly Kevin podcast for 90s football, and he basically was saying that a young Paul Scholes couldn't even get in the youth team for plenty of games because he was about 3 stone wet through and had asthma. Compared to the likes of Nicky Butt who at 18 could play a bit but was an absolute monster. Even when Scholes was in his early 20s he was only being drip fed into the first team, often as a number 10, and we're talking about one of the most gifted English players in the last 30 years, maybe ever!

Obviously John Buckley won't be Paul Scholes and Blackburn Rovers in 2020 isn't the same as Man United in 1996, but he is absolutely a player worth being patient with. 

I don't think there's any need to get overly precious about his comments. It would be weird if he didn't see qualifying for a major international tournament as a very big deal, and the prospect of playing in it a carrot for him getting back to form and fitness. As for his injury record - Occam's Razor suggests that the boy is simply injury prone, and misses games for both club and country. 

He's outlived his usefulness, and should be on his way after this season (or in January if there is any interest) but I don't think his interview is out of order at all, personally. 

13 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

Apparently there's decent hope Kaminski will be available.

Could have most of the squad back I think? 

433 team picks itself really. Suppose the only question will be JRC or Nyambe at right back as Douglas will be back. 

I think Tony will go for JRC like he did against Wycombe.

Also I guess if Ayala and Williams are back there is a decision to be made on who partners Lenihan.

Given that we'll be looking to take the game to them, and that Nyambe will have had about fifteen flights and two (?) games over the international break, I'd definitely look to this as a JRC game. If Ryan comes back unscathed and covid free, bring him in for PNE.

Other than that, I agree the centre back question is the trickiest one. I think Lenihan has come in for some justified stick for being a bit erratic this season, but after being easily our most important defender for a couple of years now I'd be inclined to be a bit more patient with him and play him alongside Williams to begin with. 

Just now, Mattyblue said:

We can’t possibly tell if he’s going to be a world star when he’s playing for us in the second division.

He could well be a David Beckham-esque loanee or he could be a Jack Wilshire or Jermaine Pennant who were lauded as the next big thing in the game at 17.

 

True enough, but equally you could argue that it's only injuries and/or a bad attitude which prevented those two from being global stars. Certainly Wilshere had all the ability. 

I think it's fair to say that he is showing the sort of ability you would associate with a top future international aged 17. Probably even beyond that. 

Just now, Dreams of 1995 said:

I think Dack will come in for either Rothwell or Holtby and we will be left with an almost 4-2-4.

A midfield "three" of Dack, Johnson and Travis could work with Trav and Johnson sitting whilst Dack joins in with the front 3.

We have an abundance of talent there now. There's absolutely no reason that, when all fit, we shouldn't run every game in the midfield department. We can switch between players of equal quality.

 

 

4-2-4 with extremely attacking full backs! Certainly if Douglas plays. Don't think we'll be short of more high scoring games before the season's out!

I can definitely see Dack working well as the most attacking of three midfielders. He has the ability to create, especially now he has much more to work with our front three. Obviously we don't want him to lose his knack of getting in the area and scoring, but Lampard made a career of doing that from a deeper position. In a strange sort of way it might even be a bit easier for him to find space given that defenders will be more closely occupied with Armstrong and Brereton.

16 minutes ago, philipl said:

Hopefully Bradley Dack taking one of the 11 starting slots squeezes Evans further away from getting picked. If Evans manages to push all except two of Travis, Johnson, Rothwell, Holtby, Trybull, Buckley, and potentially JRC, Elliott and even Brereton (as an alternative to Rothwell) out of the first eleven, good luck to him! 

At the very least he shouldn't be near any of the more attacking positions in the midfield. I still think he has has the skillset to do quite well in the deeper role, but his weaknesses are dreadfully exposed when he's asked to go further forwards, especially when he plays on the left of the three.

Having said that, seeing as he's already a reserve I'd be looking to have Davenport in front of him in the pecking order anyway. Maybe slightly harsh on Evans as it's not really his fault that the system has changed to not suit his strengths, but he isn't the future whereas Davenport could be with more game time. 

Without ever having seen him play, I hold my hands up to being an Elliot-sceptic when we signed him. Not any slight on his talent, but it's so rare that a 17 year old boy can come into man's football straight away and do the business consistently. 

Remains to be seen how he'll deal with the rigours of a long season, but so far I'm eating my words. Tremendous talent who without question will go far. 

25 minutes ago, Rogerb said:

Congratulations to Chorley the sending off completely changed the momentum of the game

It really did, I turned it off after Wigan scored their second, turned it back on after I saw they were a man down. There was a good 20 minute spell at the start of the second half when they absolutely dominated. 

Delighted for Chorley, just a shame that probably the biggest result in their history was behind closed doors. 

Would love for them to sneak through the next round and draw another one of their more prestigious Lancashire neighbours. Or failing that, PNE.

Wave upon wave of Chorley attacks at present. Wigan hanging on at 2-2

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I'd like to see him do it when we're up against good teams who are on top in the game. He strikes me as another one of these players who can cause problems when the team he's playing in is on top but will never get you on top. I'm waiting to see him being the best player in a losing team, not just the best player in a winning team. When we've lost games previously he's been more or less anonymous. He's not the only one though.

I think that's a fair point, although as you say you could level the same at a few others. Dolan (who I'm delighted we've signed) is probably the best example of that, but you'd let him off with it at such a young age. 

Not quite speaking to the same point that you're making, but it was encouraging to see him take his chance when the sides were level and the pressure was growing. It's been commented that his goals before season were in dead rubbers, and the Watford goal was when we were already two goals down. One of the next stages in is development will be to make more match winning contributions, so yesterday was a good start.

3 hours ago, Ossydave said:

Its absolutely no coincidence that Elliott on Tuesday, with quite frankly less able team mates around him, was poor.

With Rothwell, Brereton, Armstrong and to an extent Johnson round him he looked a class act. Its easy to forget this lad usually trains with the likes of Sadio Mane etc.

We must hope and pray Armstrong stays fit now, throw Dack in the mix and something pretty special is possible.

V. true, and I think you can say that about quite a few of our attacking players. Rothwell is certainly a player who comes to life when he has other creative players around him.

Looking back to last season, even someone with the experience and quality of Downing was a completely different player when he wasn't our sole creative midfielder. One of the reasons I'm not against re-signing him is that this season he'll be playing alongside Elliot and Rothwell/Hotlby instead of the likes of Samuel

Getting all of the attacking players in the side is undoubtedly going to be a huge challenge. Says a lot about Brereton's form that at present he would be near impossible to drop.

10 hours ago, Miller11 said:

As a massive critic of his so far, I’m very pleased to admit he’s winning me round more and more.

He’s not the most conventional or elegant player, but he’s mastering how to be extremely effective for us. When he picks the ball up and runs at players he seems to frighten the opposition to death. I’m calling these his Forest Gump runs... they really do get us up the pitch. Even if he seems to be running to nowhere that bit of clumsiness means he draws loads of fouls, winning free kicks and panicking opponents into getting carded. That said, we are also seeing some really intelligent end product and some lovely hold up play.

Unorthodox is exactly How I’d describe that finish today as well... an easier chance and I’d be watching through my fingers, worried he’s going to put it out for a throw in. Somehow I just knew he was going to convert that chance though.

What really impressed me today was his defensive work though. He had improved this facet of his game immensely. I’ve often seen a lack of desire from him, but lately, and no more so than today, he seemed to really relish that side of his game. He was a big help to JRC playing in an unnatural position and took off a big weight defensively.

Another MOTM performance, and he (as well as Holtby) seem to have really found their positions in this system. With the nature of that position he’s bound to have the odd quiet game, and while I don’t think he will ever be a prolific scorer, at the moment he’s incredibly effective and a key component of the team.

Fair play to him and Mowbray. And I’m utterly delighted I’m being proven wrong.

Great post. Inelegant but effective sums him up perfectly this season.

I was thinking along similar lines after the Wycombe/Derby/Cov games, and which other players could be put in the same category. The name which came to mind immediately was Kevin Davies. They're not too similar in their style of play, but they're both players who don't look like they'll ever be prolific and yet are well worth their place in the side by being a nightmare for defenders. 

I think we can see his value in Armstrong's form. Obviously Armstrong is a top goal-scorer anyway, but having scored double any other player in the league this year bar Toney, and having enough chances to have scored a good four or five more, I think we have to see Brereton's form as a major reason why he is getting so many chances. 

59 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

Cant find the Buckley comment now, but whoever said he flattered to deceive, I think that is very unfair.

He was absolutely shocking last time out, and obviously got an absolute bollucking, clearly has been told to reign it in a wee bit, and stop giving the ball away. I would love to see his stats today because I don't recall him giving the ball away once, and his positional sense was much better.

Still a boy and if he can play with a bit more discipline like we saw today then he will be an important player us. Would play him ahead of that waster Evans every day of the week.

Couldn't agree more. Other players rightly got the plaudits today but Buckley was a crucial cog in our midfield.

He obviously has talent in abundance, and showed it this afternoon. Has to work on his consistency and decision making, but on today's showing we have a real player on our hands if we're patient with him.

Very creditable and deserved three points given where we're at in the season. Wharton was good, Ben Brereton superb. 

Returning players made an enormous difference. 

Just now, philipl said:

Over doing the beating up on Evans. 

He was absolute pants in the Forest game but he is usually solid and has been known to have really good games.

Ayala is a puzzle but I guess if he is not 100%, Reading are too physical to risk him. Wharton provided he doesn't start misplacing passes is more than OK. Williams and Lenihan statistically are a very good partnership.

That said the bench has a hint of keeping happy in rotation about it.

Pears will be tested- that's certain.

Can't say that I'm delighted that he's playing, but agree that some of the criticism is OTT. Playing slightly further forward in a three really doesn't suit him though, especially on the left. 

Reading are up there with QPR as clubs that you want to play on a horrible midweek fixture in poor weather. Would be a perfect game for Travis this one, but I'm still confident that we'll win without him.

His pass to Brereton was wonderful, and if I was being hyper-critical, slightly overdue. Since moving back to the right this season he has been decent enough, but until that pass had seemed to get into promising attacking positions before putting in a disappointing final ball. 

I'm not saying this to have a go, only to highlight that he's had a solid introduction to the first team with rare flashes of real quality, and that we might need to be a bit patient before we see him realise his potential.  

52 minutes ago, JoeH said:

This will not be an easy game. Reading will be like Watford, rather than Forest or Cardiff. Let's see if we can kick on but I think it's very much a case of us struggling to break down teams at home.

I see no reason why Douglas and JRC haven't earned another start. Williams has to play over Ayala as well for now IMO. 

Perhaps we could see Joe Rothwell back in place of a Bradley Johnson, but if not then I don't think we need any changes. Good game for Pears to show us what he's all about, but not too stressed about him, get the attacking stuff right has got to be the main priority on Tuesday.

Basically agree, but I'd have Nyambe in front of Rankin-Costello. Not an easy call, but both Joao and Meite (assuming they both play) can be a handful and I'd much rather have a rested Nyambe helping to deal with any counter attacks than JRC coming back from a hamstring injury.

21 minutes ago, 47er said:

And you're illustrating why this was never a good buy. In the situation we were, it was crazy to spend all that money on a player who might come good in 2 or 3 years.

We needed a striker who was up for it from day one, whereas we've been carrying him for 2 seasons till now.

 

Counterpoint: our squad that season was always likely to stay up comfortably but was much more than a 7 million pound striker away from being top 6 contenders. 

Obviously we were all hoping for more from him before now, but seems to me that our need is much greater now we have a squad who on paper can challenge rather than when we were a nailed on mid-table side.