2021/22 Pre-Season

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, rigger said:

A sad thing for me was : I just looked on the Rovers site, and there is a picture of all eleven starting players from yesterday, and I could not recognise them all.

Surprise by that

[RTM08]

3 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Was Travis over rated or is he just not playing well? What's the consensus? 

Davenport hasn't done it yet for us has he and he's here a while now

The middle of the field is a huge concern 

 

I think he hasn't played well for a while, but he's not the same aggressive midfielder who pushes us up the pitch like he was when he broke through. As with any other player who has the hunger to move forward, the tinkerman coaches that aspect out of them. I'm sure if Dolan ever begins to push into the starting 11 more regularly he'll be similarly stunted.

[chaddyrovers]

13 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

Biggest problem yesterday for the 5 at the back, was Davenport and Travis were absolutely diabolical. Never available for a pass, Travis doesn’t have the touch in tight areas of the pitch. 

Travis shouldn't be playing the holding role but driving the team forward with his runs . 

He should be box to box midfielder for us. 

[Fraserkirky]

13 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Travis shouldn't be playing the holding role but driving the team forward with his runs . 

He should be box to box midfielder for us. 

You and I have agreed on this point before. Rothwell and Travis are 8’s, Buckley played as the 6 at Bradford and looked good. Yesterday was an opportunity to try that in our last game before the real stuff….

[chaddyrovers]

2 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

You and I have agreed on this point before. Rothwell and Travis are 8’s, Buckley played as the 6 at Bradford and looked good. Yesterday was an opportunity to try that in our last game before the real stuff….

I would have Travis and Buckley as my 8's for the Swansea game with Davenport in front of the back 4. I would be making a signing to sign a good defensive midfielder who can pass and tackle. 

[Fraserkirky]

3 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

I would have Travis and Buckley as my 8's for the Swansea game with Davenport in front of the back 4. I would be making a signing to sign a good defensive midfielder who can pass and tackle. 

No way I’m leaving out Rothwell, he is the most talented footballer at the club. Changed that game yesterday, he is the first midfielder on the team sheet for me. 

Edited August 1, 2021 by Fraserkirky

[Butty]

11 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

I would have Travis and Buckley as my 8's for the Swansea game with Davenport in front of the back 4. I would be making a signing to sign a good defensive midfielder who can pass and tackle. 

Rothwell showed yesterday he’s the best midfielder at the club, I know he doesn’t do it enough but we’ll be a lesser team if he leaves. Travis needs to rediscover his form, he’s been poor since he came back from his injury. 

[phili]

1 minute ago, Butty said:

Rothwell showed yesterday he’s the best midfielder at the club, I know he doesn’t do it enough but we’ll be a lesser team if he leaves. Travis needs to rediscover his form, he’s been poor since he came back from his injury. 

I think he was rushed back last season and has not been able to fully recover. AS we know TM likes to over rule his medical and fitness departments when he sees fit.

[Dolly blue]

We can talk formations, potential signings , youth development, season ticket sales…….none of these things will change a thing…..

We need Mowbray and his terrible team of Venus etc to go ..only then will footfall to Ewood increase….I would watch my team in League 2 ( he might well take us there )….but I cannot watch “ his team “ in The Championship…

……..how there can be any team work, bonding ,  playing for the shirt ?…..it is beyond me……I feel very sorry for the Lenihans , Nyambes , Traviss , Brerertons of the world…..their time has sadly coincided with his his…..HE has failed these boys 

[chaddyrovers]

9 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

No way I’m leaving out Rothwell, he is the most talented footballer at the club. Changed that game yesterday, he is the first midfielder on the team sheet for me. 

Travis would be the first midfielder on the teamsheet and vice captain of the club. 

I didn't watch yesterday game cos I was travelling back off holiday. I've only read reports and tweets from people plus Rovers highlights of the 2 Rovers goals. 

Rothwell has had enough chances and doesn't produce enough end products sadly. Talent is there

[chaddyrovers]

1 minute ago, Dolly blue said:

We need Mowbray and his terrible team of Venus etc to go

Yes we all agree but currently that isn't going to happen yet

[Fraserkirky]

3 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Travis would be the first midfielder on the teamsheet and vice captain of the club. 

I didn't watch yesterday game cos I was travelling back off holiday. I've only read reports and tweets from people plus Rovers highlights of the 2 Rovers goals. 

Rothwell has had enough chances and doesn't produce enough end products sadly. Talent is there

If Rothwell had a better looking stat sheet he wouldn’t be in the championship. He does a lot more important work in the 4-3-3 formation than just assists and goals. Would i like more? Sure I would. Yesterday it was classic Rothwell, great touch, ability to beat a man and carry 40yards, good range of passing, nice cross for Gallagher in lead up to goal, (something the stat sheet doesn’t pick up btw).

He is absolutely critical in that formation, in fact I don’t recall us playing well in a 4-3-3 without Rothwell in the team??? Anyone?

With Pickering and Brereton on the left hand side we have some talent out there. Shame we only saw it for 25/30mins in preseason once. 

[chaddyrovers]

18 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

If Rothwell had a better looking stat sheet he wouldn’t be in the championship. He does a lot more important work in the 4-3-3 formation than just assists and goals. Would i like more? Sure I would. Yesterday it was classic Rothwell, great touch, ability to beat a man and carry 40yards, good range of passing, nice cross for Gallagher in lead up to goal, (something the stat sheet doesn’t pick up btw).

He is absolutely critical in that formation, in fact I don’t recall us playing well in a 4-3-3 without Rothwell in the team??? Anyone?

With Pickering and Brereton on the left hand side we have some talent out there. Shame we only saw it for 25/30mins in preseason once. 

I want Buckley in my team every game. Can you get Travis, Buckley and Rothwell in the same team? 

Lets hope that Pickering and Brereton can develop a good partnership on the left

[Bigdoggsteel]

1 hour ago, RTM08 said:

I think he hasn't played well for a while, but he's not the same aggressive midfielder who pushes us up the pitch like he was when he broke through. As with any other player who has the hunger to move forward, the tinkerman coaches that aspect out of them. I'm sure if Dolan ever begins to push into the starting 11 more regularly he'll be similarly stunted.

Was he ever that though really or was it blown out of proportion? I'm starting to wonder. I don't think we can just blame the manager for this one. To be fair, he's the one who gave him his chance 

[ben_the_beast]

It's the whole set up and philosophy that doesn't suit Travis. Get him in a battle and he's an excellent player. I agree he needs to be box to box as his biggest asset is his physicality and drive. Both when pressurising the opposition and when he's carrying the ball. 

As it stands Mowbray has had him holding which takes away his drive. I don't think he has the positional discipline either. And then when we're in possession we're trying to dominate games and he's playing short passes sideways and he can be very sloppy in that regard. It also again takes away his ability to drive forwards. 

In short I don't think he was over rated. He's just being asked to do things which take away from the things he's best at. 

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

But the back 5 worked when we played Leeds tho so what was the difference how Mowbray played it against Leeds then against Bolton?

Could we not play the back 5 when we are looking to solid and want to play on the counter?

It is difficult to suggest that it worked fully against Leeds I would say, we never offered much of an attacking threat, Leeds clearly didnt play to their full potential and all that it really allowed us to do especially in the second half is to defend in numbers.

I don't like the idea of our manager again over complicating things and repeatedly changing formations, and I also dont think that the formation suits us, especially as none of our centre backs are ball playing ones.

I also do not understand your insistence on Buckley playing ahead of Rothwell "every week." Neither fully convince to the point that they guarantee their selection.

[roversfan99]

5 minutes ago, ben_the_beast said:

It's the whole set up and philosophy that doesn't suit Travis. Get him in a battle and he's an excellent player. I agree he needs to be box to box as his biggest asset is his physicality and drive. Both when pressurising the opposition and when he's carrying the ball. 

As it stands Mowbray has had him holding which takes away his drive. I don't think he has the positional discipline either. And then when we're in possession we're trying to dominate games and he's playing short passes sideways and he can be very sloppy in that regard. It also again takes away his ability to drive forwards. 

In short I don't think he was over rated. He's just being asked to do things which take away from the things he's best at. 

To be fair, he did tend to play slightly ahead of the holding midfielder last season but he never seemed to get fully up to match fitness.

But I agree that positional discipline isnt his strong suit hence why I don't think he suits being the most defensive midfielder. With such a young squad, you would think that we would utilise the energy and athleticism in the team and try to really press.

[Bigdoggsteel]

23 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

It is difficult to suggest that it worked fully against Leeds I would say, we never offered much of an attacking threat, Leeds clearly didnt play to their full potential and all that it really allowed us to do especially in the second half is to defend in numbers.

I don't like the idea of our manager again over complicating things and repeatedly changing formations, and I also dont think that the formation suits us, especially as none of our centre backs are ball playing ones.

I also do not understand your insistence on Buckley playing ahead of Rothwell "every week." Neither fully convince to the point that they guarantee their selection.

Here are quotes in the LT, from Mowbray. Doesn't sound like keeping it simple is the plan. In fact, quite the opposite 

"We have to be able to change the format of games, too often last season we lost by the odd goal and I’m hoping if we can strengthen up before the window closes that we’ll have better options to be able to play different ways with different players.”

 

[LDRover]

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Was Travis over rated or is he just not playing well? What's the consensus? 

Davenport hasn't done it yet for us has he and he's here a while now

The middle of the field is a huge concern 

 

He was overrated. We wanted a good CM and latched onto him as he was homegrown. Unfortunately, he's not all that.

[AllRoverAsia]

3 minutes ago, LDRover said:

He was overrated. We wanted a good CM and latched onto him as he was homegrown. Unfortunately, he's not all that.

Early on he was exceptional. Mowbray knocked that out of him within a half of a season.

Sadly he also picks up a lot of injuries which are taking their toll.

[Bigdoggsteel]

14 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Early on he was exceptional. Mowbray knocked that out of him within a half of a season.

Sadly he also picks up a lot of injuries which are taking their toll.

Exceptional? That's an exaggeration. 

[simongarnerisgod]

15 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Early on he was exceptional. Mowbray knocked that out of him within a half of a season.

Sadly he also picks up a lot of injuries which are taking their toll.

he got rushed back from injury last season when it was clear he was`nt ready to start,i don`t think he`s ever recovered,he can`t seem to turn quickly anymore and though he was never quick he`s definately struggling over a couple of yards when closing the opposition down

[SuperBrfc]

There was a spell in the 18/19 season where Travis looked quite good. The game at Newcastle in the FA Cup was the standout one for me. He was making driving runs and playing forward passes with intent. I remember thinking we have a player here.

That version of Travis hasn't been seen since. Injuries may have taken their toll but I think it's due to the manager wanting him to play a safe, disciplined role. Mowbray wouldn't play Reed in the centre of the park because he wanted him to learn from Evans and Smallwood. He's turned Travis into a sideways player like those two, imo.

[JHRover]

I don't recall Travis having many injuries. He had the big knee issue last season, and i think he was rushed back from that which probably caused further issues last year and I think he admitted he was struggling to get back to full steam after that. Prior to that I don't remember him missing many games at all due to injury. I stand to be corrected.

Another one who could probably benefit from new faces and voices on the training ground.

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

It is difficult to suggest that it worked fully against Leeds I would say, we never offered much of an attacking threat, Leeds clearly didnt play to their full potential and all that it really allowed us to do especially in the second half is to defend in numbers.

I don't like the idea of our manager again over complicating things and repeatedly changing formations, and I also dont think that the formation suits us, especially as none of our centre backs are ball playing ones.

I also do not understand your insistence on Buckley playing ahead of Rothwell "every week." Neither fully convince to the point that they guarantee their selection.

I think you need 2 formations at this level so if our 1st formation is 4-3-3 and 2nd formation has 5-3-2 then I think it is sensible from Rovers. Swansea under Steve Cooper last season had 2 formations and Bielsa at Leeds has always had 2 formations. 

I also don't get that you are over complicating by having 2 different formations. Footballers at this level should be able to play different formations. 

Cos Buckley has huge talent and its time we develop him as a player and build the midfield around Buckley and Travis