14 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Agreed. It's much easier getting 1 LB in as 2. I would keep Bell as back up and sign some serious competition for him. 

I think he still has the opportunity to put the performances in to warrant that. He'll get games, so if he plays like he did vs Bristol City & Wednesday (I was still frustrated with him against PNE even if others were impressed, but he's certainly had worse games) then I might be inclined to give him another couple of years on modest cash.

I'll still need some persuading before I think it's a good idea though. He'll be 26 by the time the season's finished, so isn't likely to get heaps better, and more importantly doesn't seem to be doing a good job of ironing out bad habits. As keep a player who is borderline L1/lower championship standard, I'd leaning towards looking to use the money we would've spent on his wages on another understudy.

1 minute ago, bluebruce said:

I pray to all the gods that we are not trying to collect another CM. I'm sick of this obsession with it.

Wonder if it will be dependent on Richie finding a new club? I agree we're pretty well stocked there on paper but if Holtby is now seen as an attacker to cover Dack and Evans is out for a good while, we suddenly find ourselves 3 bodies lighter if Smallwood leaves.

Having said that, unless we've got an obvious talent/good deal on our hands, I'd be inclined to see this as a chance for Davenport to stake a claim rather than bring in a short term solution. 

On 17/01/2020 at 21:39, DeeCee said:

Sad to say but Charlie's finished at this level. Been a great player but we need to move forwards, not backwards.

Agree that we can't go forward planning to have him in the XI, but I wouldn't go as far as finished. Wigan's fans look pretty united in saying they looked more solid with him in the side, stats seem to provisionally back it up. Clearly his ability on the ball & set piece specialism is still there. 

Compare that to the likes of Gordon Greer, who was definitely finished when he came for his second spell. Charlie's biggest problem is his contract and his pedigree. If he was willing to be a squaddie and not be one of our top earners, I'd have no problem whatsoever in having him as a part of the squad. 

Easy decision this one, well worth another 12 months. 

Been absent from here for a few weeks (5-0 win totally coincidental to my return), so do we know much about Rathbone? Any good and does the interest look real?

16 minutes ago, neophox said:

Would you give Amari an contract extension?

I've been completely back and forth with this over the last 12 months. I genuinely thought there was development last year which went a bit under the radar given the team's drop in form.

Fast forward to this season and he looks just not up to it, and just when I think my mind has been made up he puts in a couple of performances which make him look useful.

I'm still in the thanks but no thanks camp, a couple of swallows a summer don't make and the sum total of his work since he walked through the door isn't where we need it to be for us to go up. 

Losing Tosin is a very big blow, but Williams started the season well. Otherwise the team I would've picked.

Come on Rovers!

Just now, OnePhilT said:

Paul Cook's Wigan away record in the Championship. I'd like to think that I'm anxious, more than nervous.

And the Leeds win was a fluke

5 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Looking forward to this match immensely.... it's a real test of our ambitions going into the new year.

There can be no messing about, if we're serious about a top 6 place this has to be an emphatic win with a good performance.

Coming over Merceresque here but it has to be a 3-0 or better.

A draw or worse would be hard to take after the recent run raising our hopes (yet again)

 

Agree that this is a game that we have to expect to win, but Wigan haven't been getting battered that often this year. I'd be more than happy with a win of any sort to keep the run going.

Tried to go for players who actually played enough games to get a fair account, not many of the Portuguese lot make it. 

Kean

Orr

Greer

Sanogo'o

Henley

Feeney

Murphy (c)

Etuhu

Gladwin

Best

Goodwillie

Fair play to Chris Brown managing to stay out of the list!

Just now, Lie_still_Rover said:

I really enjoyed watching Dickov, very underated player..

 

Played a huge supporting role in the Bellamy season (as did the much maligned Kuqi, too).

Bellamy & Hughes rightly take the credit for taking us to the next level, but there were big wins that season when Bellamy was injured and they were excellent. West Ham, West Brom & Portsmouth stand out, but I'm sure there were others. 

On January, agree with the need for a keeper. I'm pretty relaxed about another centre half so long as we keep Tosin. Left back is more urgent for me.

Tried to base it on their contribution over the whole decade. Something which jumps out immediately is the shocking lack of full back options. Eventually gone for Emerton at right back due to his immense efforts in keeping us up in K**n's first year. Most of the other players from the top flight either didn't play enough after relegation or were past their best for me to include. Also gone for a ridiculously attacking 442 to accommodate everyone. 

                 Robinson

Emerton  Hanley   Mulgrew   Olsson

Conway   Dunn     Dack   Hoilett

             Rhodes   Graham

Unlucky to miss out: Lenihan, Cairney, Gestede, Samba (immense for the short period) the Yak and for his good spells, Marshall.

Duffy can still do one.

1 minute ago, MarkBRFC said:

Just watched them links back.

That 15/16 goal of the season competition is the sorriest goal of the season competition I have ever seen.

As much as I miss having him as manager, some of the ones under Big Sam were not much better!

Just now, Riverside under the drip said:

To be player of the decade, they need to have played for more than a couple of seasons. Dack's on 2.5 so not enough for me. That rules out so many players, especially the remainder of the Premier League squad. Realistically, that leaves Rhodes or Graham as long-serving quality players who massively affected our overall fortunes. I'll go with Rhodes although I really respect Graham for his contributions and the way he has gracefully handled his easing out of the team on a number of occasions.

On a side note, I had hoped to find inspiration in players of the season winners and was shocked to see that Tugay only won it once, Shearer twice whilst Hendry won three times across 10 years. Some of the names to have beaten them are mind-blowing and a reminder of how much of a team game it really is.

I completely forgot that John Filan won it! What a horrendous fall from grace that was.

Some other interesting ones from my era, amazed that Benni didn't win it in place of Bentley. Don't know if that says more about Benni's periodic drop off in form or that Bentley was just brilliant (probably a bit of both).

Also put Marcus Olsson winning to the back of my mind! Just goes to show how difficult picking a player from this decade is when players like him have won it.

14 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

 

Did I mention I hate Wigan and specifically Cook? 

I always struggle to know how to feel about this fixture

On the one hand, they are a glorified non-league club who have only had any meaningful success in their history because of the investment of a wealthy Blackburn Rovers fan, and who are at the very least behind Burnley, Preston, Bolton, Blackpool, Accy, all of Burnley's youth & women's teams and probably Chorley as Lancashire rivals. I don't ever want to lower ourselves to see this as a big game. 

At the same time, I come from Wigan and there's no getting away from the fact that we've had a few results against them over the last 10 years or which have been downright embarrassing. That and their manager is an absolute weapon. Hope we absolutely pump them. 

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

To be honest I have seen nothing from him to suggest that hes anywhere near being able to make a breakthrough.

Which part of the post did you disagree with? He definitely needs to toughen up in a lower league but I can see the paralells of the risk of falling between the cracks of regularly just making the 18 (often his appearances seem to be from the sake of it) so as a result not even playing reserve football against kids.

I'd guess it was the certainty of the post give that he's hardly played, rather than the content, but I don't want to put words in his mouth.

For what it's worth, it's hard to get away from how he's looked like a little boy in his cameos, but it's far too early to read anything into that in my view. I remember listening to a podcast with Gary Neville when he was asked if there was a Man U teammate he thought wasn't likely to make it, and he went on to say that he couldn't for the life of him see how someone of Paul Scholes' size and fitness could make it as a footballer when they were younger.

Not for a second saying Buckley is going to be Scholes! But if he has got where he has based on talent and a brain, let's wait to see where they can take him before we say he's going to fall down the leagues!

Just now, Swanson said:

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/2-pros-and-2-cons-to-blackburn-rovers-raiding-sheffield-wednesday-for-26-year-old/

This guy any good?

Quick scout on their forum suggests that he was a bit of a whipping boy from their fans until fairly recently, who has won a lot of them over after having a good season so far.

Having said that, the fact that he has 6 months left on his contract and the number of clubs involved makes it look like agent talk to me.  

Trouble with picking up some good results is that it's possible to go a bit too far and see improvement in everything, but Nyambe's ball control has looked consistently better since his return to the side. Could just be a result of playing with better players, but long may it continue. 

Now he has his shirt back, the next thing for Nyambe has to be to keep it by staying fit. Promising that he has just managed  a 3 game week without an injury, should he keep that up then he should keep getting better.

Not much to choose between a few of the names mentioned, but I'd go for Rhodes because of his character and how important he was in our darkest period. That team of 2012/13 must have been the most dislikeable in our recent history with the odd exception like Dunn & MGP. Having our one shining light being so humble and genuinely pleased to be at Blackburn Rovers really was like night and day with the likes of Murphy, Etuhu, Best and other hangers on who I've done my best to forget. 

His goal record throughout his time here was obviously exceptional, but for that first year his finishing was genuinely as good as anyone in the country. Absolutely flying, half a sniff and you were basically certain it was in the back of the net. Started missing a few as time went on, lost a bit of his edge, but for a spell it really felt as though he was the bit left of our club that was still big time. 

Says something about him that I was genuinely made up that he scored a hat-trick for another time at the weekend. Hard to think of any other former player that I would react like that to. 

Of the upcoming games, this is the one where we really should be expecting three points. Birmingham and Huddersfield are certainly winnable, but much trickier on paper than this one.

With that in mind, I wouldn't try to be too clever in selection until we have to be. Start off with the 'best' team, rather than who deserves to keep their shirt from Bristol.

Bell, Johnson, Gally, Holtby and Bennett will get their chance over the coming games. No need to rush it. I'd go for the same team as Derby and try to kill the game early.

13 hours ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

All those saying I told you so about mowbray can absolutely do one. I still don’t want mowbray as manager, I think there is a lot better out there. If he ever managed to do the unthinkable and get promotion then he would have to be replaced as only place we would be heading is back down. I’d like a manager than can take us up and keep us there. So yes I’m delighted things are going well and applaud the upturn to the players and manager but that’s not saying I want him long term here 

Nobody should be rubbing it in anyone's faces, we all want the same thing ultimately. Also this run of good form won't last forever, so a bit of humility all round wouldn't go amiss. 

At the same time, I'd say two things. One, there are always better options. When we had Kenny, Souness or Sparky, who is to say there weren't better options out there? The manager is the most important figure at the club and we should know better than most what the costs and risks of playing about with that position can do.

Second, even though there are obviously valid criticisms of Mowbray (which I think have been drastically over played, but there we are) should he get us up he would've achieved a double promotion on a modest-ish budget and having to rebuild a squad from very little when he first arrived. In anyone's book, that would be an excellent achievement and one which deserves a crack at the big time. Dyche needed two attempts with the Dingles, and that's turning out okay.

Anyway, nobody should be crowing about our upturn in form. Many of the Mowbray in crowd including myself were having a few doubts before Barnsley/Brentford, so for now I'm just going to carry on enjoying it and see how far it can take us.

Fabulous result. We were so far behind some of those sides at one stage.

Swallows, summers etc. But with winnable games coming up, I'm getting excited!

Bit of a missed opportunity, but a perfectly acceptable point under the circumstances.

With Dack out for Saturday, I wonder if there could be a role for Bennett as a number 10? His best performance last season was Brentford at home when Dack was missing. Really made the most of his engine, pressing from the front. Obviously not as dangerous as Dack but capable of knitting play together. I imagine there will be a few changes so Holtby will probably get a spot elsewhere.

Just now, Sparks Rover said:

2001 is interesting. Just shows what can be achieved in the 2nd tier with the right manager and correct style of football.

If ever there was a team to get bums on seats it was that one!

I also thought a bumper derby crowd seeing us pump Burnley 5-0 would have skewed the overall figure, but surprisingly the gate was only just over 23,000

18 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Jordan Rhodes had them on toast on his debut (or was it second match?) for us years ago. But agreed - from memory it's not been great since at Ashton Gate.

12 hours ago, Wegerleswiggle said:

I always dread playing Bristol City. We never seem to do well. 

That was my feeling too, although surprisingly we've won there as much as we've lost since we've left the top flight. Not exactly a happy hunting ground but not as bad as I expected.