Academy & U21s

[KentExile]

23 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

I saw Khan in that lineup and instantly knew we would lose.

The game isn't over but at about 70 minutes we are 3 nil down and he has conceded 3 out of 5 shots on target.

his record is truly diabolical, very rare that he concedes any less than 3 goals in a game

 

Edit - Just looked,

17 games since joining Rovers where has has conceded at least 3

11 games since joining Rovers that he has not conceded at least 3 goals

1 of those 11 was a clean sheet, this was it, it was nearly 2 years ago

 

Edited 22 hours ago by KentExile

[KentExile]

 

[bluebruce]

33 minutes ago, KentExile said:

his record is truly diabolical, very rare that he concedes any less than 3 goals in a game

 

Edit - Just looked,

17 games since joining Rovers where has has conceded at least 3

11 games since joining Rovers that he has not conceded at least 3 goals

1 of those 11 was a clean sheet, this was it, it was nearly 2 years ago

 

They really should let him go. If they don't want to pay him off, send him out on loan until his contract ends. I don't care what level. These defeats sap the confidence of our young lads as they develop.

[Parsonblue]

A really poor performance from the Under-21's tonight.  Totally outplayed, outfought and overwhelmed by a Forest side that was very impressive on the night. 

Our back four were simply awful.  So many errors in their own area, failing to pick up players, failing the clear the ball and then repeating those errors over and over again.  Khan was at fault for the first but badly let down by his defence for the others.  However, the midfield was ineffective despite the efforts of Garrett in the first half and Dunn in the second half.  

Up front, young Higgins tried hard but suffered with the physical side of the game and was taken off, presumably with injury, at half-time.  Forest defenders give him a rough time after he made a very bright start.  He's certainly not ready to go into the first team and I suspect needs to play more Under-18 football for the rest of this season.

In truth, not one player came out of this game with any credit.  So many elementary errors all over the pitch that Forest were quick to exploit.

I suspect the Under-18's will be drafted in to play in tomorrows Under-21 fixture with Blackpool.

 

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, Parsonblue said:

A really poor performance from the Under-21's tonight.  Totally outplayed, outfought and overwhelmed by a Forest side that was very impressive on the night. 

Our back four were simply awful.  So many errors in their own area, failing to pick up players, failing the clear the ball and then repeating those errors over and over again.  Khan was at fault for the first but badly let down by his defence for the others.  However, the midfield was ineffective despite the efforts of Garrett in the first half and Dunn in the second half.  

Up front, young Higgins tried hard but suffered with the physical side of the game and was taken off, presumably with injury, at half-time.  Forest defenders give him a rough time after he made a very bright start.  He's certainly not ready to go into the first team and I suspect needs to play more Under-18 football for the rest of this season.

In truth, not one player came out of this game with any credit.  So many elementary errors all over the pitch that Forest were quick to exploit.

I suspect the Under-18's will be drafted in to play in tomorrows Under-21 fixture with Blackpool.

 

We have fixtures two days in a row? How is that even allowed?

[KentExile]

3 hours ago, bluebruce said:

We have fixtures two days in a row? How is that even allowed?

happened earlier in the season too

Todays fixture is the Central League, which whilst it is an U21/reserve team fixture, Rovers tend to be happy to play the U18s in these, as they did against Blackpool (also ibn the central league) when the 21s had played Boro the previous day in a similar situation earlier in the season,

Looks like the same will happen again when 26th Jan they play Birmingham in PL2, then Preston on the 27th in the Central League at the end of this month

We did go with an U21 side in our other central league fixture this season (which was in a free week)

Edited 12 hours ago by KentExile

[KentExile]

7 hours ago, Parsonblue said:

A really poor performance from the Under-21's tonight.  Totally outplayed, outfought and overwhelmed by a Forest side that was very impressive on the night. 

Our back four were simply awful.  So many errors in their own area, failing to pick up players, failing the clear the ball and then repeating those errors over and over again.  Khan was at fault for the first but badly let down by his defence for the others.  However, the midfield was ineffective despite the efforts of Garrett in the first half and Dunn in the second half.  

Up front, young Higgins tried hard but suffered with the physical side of the game and was taken off, presumably with injury, at half-time.  Forest defenders give him a rough time after he made a very bright start.  He's certainly not ready to go into the first team and I suspect needs to play more Under-18 football for the rest of this season.

In truth, not one player came out of this game with any credit.  So many elementary errors all over the pitch that Forest were quick to exploit.

I suspect the Under-18's will be drafted in to play in tomorrows Under-21 fixture with Blackpool.

 

report from last night

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2026/january/12/report--rovers-under-21s-0-3-nottingham-forest-under-21s/

[KentExile]

 

[bluebruce]

6 hours ago, KentExile said:

happened earlier in the season too

Todays fixture is the Central League, which whilst it is an U21/reserve team fixture, Rovers tend to be happy to play the U18s in these, as they did against Blackpool (also ibn the central league) when the 21s had played Boro the previous day in a similar situation earlier in the season,

Looks like the same will happen again when 26th Jan they play Birmingham in PL2, then Preston on the 27th in the Central League at the end of this month

We did go with an U21 side in our other central league fixture this season (which was in a free week)

Hmm. Seems a bit risky to enter this central league with that being the case so often, progress in other cups could cause the u18s to be overplayed too I would think. Maybe it doesn't land that way and has been considered though.

Also strange the central league decides to have its fixtures the day after pl2 ones.

[KentExile]

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

Hmm. Seems a bit risky to enter this central league with that being the case so often, progress in other cups could cause the u18s to be overplayed too I would think. Maybe it doesn't land that way and has been considered though.

Also strange the central league decides to have its fixtures the day after pl2 ones.

I think we just look at them as mainly U18 games, (plus a few from the U21s), considering our competitors in that competition are Preston, Blackpool etc who are nowhere near PL2 level, its maybe seen as a good intermediate stage between U18s & PL2 level U21 football

U18s only play in their league of 14 teams, so 26 games in that, + the Youth cup, and a local Lancashire cup.  So I don't think burnout from too many games is much of an issue

Edited 5 hours ago by KentExile

[KentExile]

 

Harry Lister with our goal from the spot

[KentExile]

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2026/january/13/rovers-to-take-on-the-trotters-in-lancashire-senior-cup/

 

Rovers will welcome Bolton Wanderers to the Rovers Academy next month in the next round of the Lancashire Senior Cup.

A place in the final of the competition will be the reward for the victors as the tournament reaches the final four stage.

 

The tit against the Trotters will take place on Wednesday 11th February, with kick-off scheduled for 1pm.

The other semi-final will pit Burnley against Wigan Athletic.