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https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2025/october/08/report--rovers-under-21s-3-1-leyton-orient-under-21s/

Bo Diddley. - Before You Accuse Me

Hence why i couldn't possibly say - it is mere speculation.

At times it seemed as if we were playing with a 4-1-4-1 formation with Frank Vare being the holding player. In fairness, I thought the system was quite fluid and Powell was given a fairly free role. I've always been a great fan of Powell from the first time I saw him with the Under-18s. He has pace and despite his frail build, he's as hard as nails. A really tough tackler and seems to have a football brain. At times Batty was popping up in a more central position when we were attacking and ended up being caught out of position when moves broke down. As you say, injuries to Dunn and Litherland have caused issues in selection, but that's the nature of the beast with Under-21 football. You rarely get the same eleven twice and we seem keen on switching players to play different roles.

This is the mindset about everything at the club. Cheap wins, regardless of quality.

Powell was playing wide on the left of a four. He was probably the pick of the bunch on the night. Isaac Dunn was there but in a boot - a broken foot I believe. Litherland is injured but I'm not sure what it is.

A win, against a more than impressive Orient outfit, is welcome after recent results. However, if Orient's final ball had been better they could easily have got at least a point, even with ten men. I thought Brandon Powell was our best performer. He seemed to have a roving commission and his pace and movement was a delight to watch. Orient looked a very skilful outfit. Quick in attack, with one touch passes which left us struggling to keep up at times. A mixture of wayward shooting and a poor final pass let them down. Honour looked confident in goal and made some decent saves. He's a big lad but gets down well and seems to have good judgement. Batty continues to be something of an enigma. He ought to be a dominant figure at this level, with his experience, but at times looked disinterested and petulant. He went missing when Orient scored and in my view needs a loan move for the second half of the season if he is to develop into the player we want him to be. Up front, Joseph proved a handful in the first half before tiring after the interval. He's still very raw but there does look to be potential there.

On Saturday 14 games from Leagues 1 and 2 are being shown live at 3 pm. There are also two matches kicking off at 2 pm and 5.30 pm being shown live. During an international break lots a lot of PL and Championship followers used to take in a game or two at this level. They probably won't now

Was Powell actually playing as a 10, and Stritch & Vare as defensive midfielders, as shown in the graphic? If so, it would possibly explain a lack of ability to control the game, Stritch & Vare look better further forwards to me, and Powell is a left back Quite often this season, Dunn seems to have been playing in central midfield by himself, with 2 more attacking midfielders ahead of him, now it looks like he is injured alongside Litherland, as neither have played in a few weeks

A win is a win and these have been in short supply for the under 21's this season so the objective was achieved but really they made hard work of it. I said after about 70 minutes that you couldn't tell that we had an extra player such was our lethargy. Going ahead and playing against the the men I expected much more but the play was quite insipid with very little intensity and far too often the easy option was taken. Orient deservedly equalised and Honour made a couple of smart saves and as the half time whistle went Batty, in an act of frustration volleyed the ball across the pitch. We toiled again in the second half but got the penalty which seemed to knock the stuffing out of Orient and the third came as a result of this although in between Orient did have another couple of chances which Honour dealt with. The players were taken off the field twice during the match. On the first occasion it was just after we scored our second goal. Prior to the penalty being taken there was the usual gamesmanship and a couple of verbal spats. I wondered if something untoward had been said but just about as we were were entering stoppage time I heard the linesman telling a few players they were going off again. Cue confusion as nobody had a clue what was going on. It transpired (I heard a steward talking) that there was a drone overhead and it was deemed (correctly in my view) unsafe.

They did try for a couple more, unfortunately their unwillingness to pay the going rate in wages led to Brian De Keersmaecker signing for Oxford & Márk Kosznovszky ending up at Portsmouth, although I believe that Kosznovszky was probably an alternative to Henriksson rather than Baradji https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/25296373.blackburn-rovers-target-explains-move-championship-rivals/ https://lowertiers.co.uk/blackburn-to-move-for-mark-kosznovszky/ Edit - I suppose that the silver lining here is that De Keersmaecker especially has adapted very quickly to the Championship, winning a few plaudits, so if our scouting team identified them alongside Baradji, then hopefully if/when he is fit, he becomes as important to Rovers as he has been to Oxford. The other option of course is that we just plumped for the cheaper (and less good) option

Must be handled correctly yes. The question is why did we choose to replace Travis with him when we knew about this issue. My guess is he was the first choice and they must've felt that someone else would get him if we didn't jump in now. But even so maybe we should've moved on to someone else.

Any actually close to cbs? There's a few dotted about

As a local tip, find yourself a desi pub and have a mixed grill

You need to work on your sarcasm monitor, Len.

Me either I do not like that fella.

Appreciate the update on Baradji at least it is something. Foot injuries can be difficult due to limited blood flow. Must be handled properly or it will become a life long struggle.

VI said medium term what ever that means. It is becoming more and more apparent that they had no clue as tonthe actual extent of his injust or what it would take to get him healthy. Idiots the lot of em. As for Scotty's new contract well that is to help inflate his sale price nothing more nothing less. A real dumbass move shipping Hyam off but they just don't care they don't not a one of em. January outs, Tronstadt, Wharton and Cantwell.

I know a few pubs that'll be ok for away fans in the city centre if you want to know.

I dont think its to cash in as I cant see a flurry of teams or any decent fees being offered. Has serious injury red flags even if he has a run of games between now and January. Hes a decent age but not young enough to cause a spike in price. And although hes usually solid, I dont think that his Watford return is by any means standard for him. Its an easy deal to do, obviously a Rovers fan, not a player playing above his level, weak negotiating power considering the injuries and all thats been done is a year added. A good decision to sign him up but it wont be a big wage spike by any means.

I'd assume Scotty was an easy one to do given all the variables and i doubt he;ll be going anywhere soon. Then again when the forces in the shadows get to work anything can happen i wouldn't trust these feckers as far as i could shove them. Every player is a £ sign and potential commission as is their cheaper wage replacements.

Only Berg was a legend!

good news,they`ve only given him a new deal so they can cash in on him in january

Good news

I am certain that "Colin's Cheeky Bits" was merely the centre fold spread in the first few editions of FTH. I never heard that it was adopted as another fanzine.