Championship 21/22

[Ossydave]

Bell didn't even have half a football brain, he was quite simply shite. What you could never question was his commitment and effort, I imagine that's helping his cause with the Luton fans, obviously a goal will help further.

[TheRoversReturn]

9 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Bell is a horrendous player at this level and it would be revisionism to suggest otherwise, and it said that we didnt offer him a deal if I recall on the official site. That being said, Luton certainly show us how to really get the most from what little they have, and it wouldnt surprise me if they finished above us. 

The truth lies somewhere in between your hyperbole and that of previous posters. Bell was nothing special nor should he be our first-choice left back but he would have been a perfectly adequate squad member and back-up option. 

A good manager would probably make a decent, if nothing more, player at this level out of him. He always seemed to look a little bit lost and unsure of himself, struggled with positioning and diving in. A good man-manager would have improved that. He'll never be Andy Robertson but he wasn't Elliot Bennett at full back either. 

Edited August 18, 2021 by TheRoversReturn

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

5 hours ago, islander200 said:

Fair play but he was absolutely dogshit here and there would have been uproar on here JHRover included if we had given him a new deal 

Yeah, nobody is going to tell me Bell was a good fullback, he was really poor. The next time he stops a cross coming in will be the first.

[Oldgregg86]

Bell was, still is and alway will be league one player. He couldnt cross or stop crosses, had no positional awareness , wasn’t a good tackler, for all his pace wasn’t a good dribbler and couldn’t see a pass for love nor money, always turned back, always played safe, always looked to casual and got caught in possession. They can have him and he can get league one player of the season next year when luton get relegated 

[Bbrovers2288]

Not really arsed that bell left, no I’ll feeling towards the lad though, glad he is doing well at Luton 

[47er]

If Bell morphs into a good defender at Luton that will say an enormous amount about things at Ewood.

[JHRover]

There's a recurring theme here

Just about everyone to feature in our defence under this manager ends up being labelled crap or not good enough.

How many have actually been hailed as success stories under this manager?

Can't really allow THB or Tosin because they were top players before coming here and Mowbray didn't have time to alter them.

Lenihan was decent before Mowbray and at best has stood still.

Maybe the issue here is the manager and not the players?

I agree Bell was poor in his time here. Yet lo and behold off he goes to a rival club, one that I expect will finish comfortably higher than us this season, and he plays for them.

 

[simongarnerisgod]

pne fans going apoplectic over their manager,chairman,owner and the players,even the talismanic ben whiteman is getting a slating over on their message board,most of then reckon relegation is a certainty🤣

[K-Hod]

To be honest, I thought the most frustrating thing about Bell was that he had the raw materials to be better than he was at football, but he was so ponderous and laid back, like a learner driver at a junction!

[Bigdoggsteel]

2 hours ago, JHRover said:

There's a recurring theme here

Just about everyone to feature in our defence under this manager ends up being labelled crap or not good enough.

How many have actually been hailed as success stories under this manager?

Can't really allow THB or Tosin because they were top players before coming here and Mowbray didn't have time to alter them.

Lenihan was decent before Mowbray and at best has stood still.

Maybe the issue here is the manager and not the players?

I agree Bell was poor in his time here. Yet lo and behold off he goes to a rival club, one that I expect will finish comfortably higher than us this season, and he plays for them.

 

I'll take that bet 

How far or how many points is "comfortably"? 

[riverholmes]

To be fair to Douglas and Bell, they had Gallagher or Brereton supporting them defensively, most of the time. In other words, they were horrendously under-protected. It was the same for Nyambe at right back, and we conceded a lot of goals down that right side but Nyambe was able to pull of heroics, at times, which Bell and Douglas were not capable of.

It is surprising that Douglas was preferred ahead of Bell last season. It's picking between two weak players but Bell had pace and his run at the end of the season suggested he could be useful - for a mid to lower league team. There's the possibility that the call-up to Jamaica's national team has had the confidence boosting effect the Chile call up apparently had on Brereton. If Luton keep him in the team, I can imagine Bell having a good season. He'll, at least, likely have a better season than Douglas.

I do wonder whether Rovers made a mistake in letting both Bell and Thompson go. I think Bell was offered a contract late on but not sure about Thompson. We're short in the LB spot with, perhaps, Rankin-Costello, Cirino and Garrett the likely options after Pickering. I don't think JRC is suited for that role but he has been put there before. Alternately, perhaps, Mowbray feels that Cirino might be ready to be a back-up.

Edit:

I see that Douglas is playing in Poland now with Lech Poznan. And they're top of the league. So maybe, I'll be wrong about Bell having the better season, albeit in, possibly, a different style of play.

Edited August 18, 2021 by riverholmes

[Mattyblue]

Reading the PNE board there’s certainly parallels.

This is an ultra competitive league, with very little separating sides in terms of quality, rest on your laurels and you can plummet rapidly. On the flip side, a Barnsley march to the play offs is very much possible.

[47er]

38 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

To be honest, I thought the most frustrating thing about Bell was that he had the raw materials to be better than he was at football, but he was so ponderous and laid back, like a learner driver at a junction!

He did look good coming forward though but there was usually no end product. I don't understand how a professional player couldn't cross a ball, we were all doing that as kids weren't we?

[roversfan99]

12 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Well they were complaining Cooper's style and dullness of the play regardless of results? 

I agree on They being hopeless against us and boring against Sheffield United. 

If Swansea want to play this style and play it at all levels but currently it ain't going to get them promote. 

I would say Brereton could be that goalscorer but we need another striker in 

Preston when they had Hugill as a focus point and could play from that. They don't have that now. 

If they moaned at winning but not passing it out from the back, but enjoy the drivel currently on show, of which I have no evidence that it is the case, then they are idiots. Swansea could be nearer to the bottom 3 than the top 6 if they are careful.

There is absolutely no evidence that Brereton could be a prolific goalscorer. Hugill was not that either, a focal point is different and perhaps they do miss that although I suppose Ched Evans is a similar player. But they are also missing Pearson and Davies IMO more than Hugill as they were the glue in their team, they never had a prolific goalscorer but they had players like Johnson, Browne, Barkhuizen and Sinclair all chipping in. The case of appointing a caretaker manager permanently like we did with Bowyer seemed always destined to be not worth the risk.

10 hours ago, JacknOry said:

For Luton, Bell plays as a wingback in a 3-5-2 system. He has impressed their fans in all 3 games so far, being slated as a 'big improvement' on the player he replaced in the team. 

 

I thought here that Bell was perhaps even poorer going forward than he was defending.

He did get 3 goals in that first full season back in the Championship, all of which were in defeats which summed him and our defence up at that time. But I can't recall a single assist from a cross from him in his time here, so I always found the potential of playing him as a wing back to be a curious one.

Their standards at left back must be low and I am sure that over time, they will become as furstrated with him as we did.

[Bigdoggsteel]

38 minutes ago, riverholmes said:

To be fair to Douglas and Bell, they had Gallagher or Brereton supporting them defensively, most of the time. In other words, they were horrendously under-protected. It was the same for Nyambe at right back, and we conceded a lot of goals down that right side but Nyambe was able to pull of heroics, at times, which Bell and Douglas were not capable of.

It is surprising that Douglas was preferred ahead of Bell last season. It's picking between two weak players but Bell had pace and his run at the end of the season suggested he could be useful - for a mid to lower league team. There's the possibility that the call-up to Jamaica's national team has had the confidence boosting effect the Chile call up apparently had on Brereton. If Luton keep him in the team, I can imagine Bell having a good season. He'll, at least, likely have a better season than Douglas.

I do wonder whether Rovers made a mistake in letting both Bell and Thompson go. I think Bell was offered a contract late on but not sure about Thompson. We're short in the LB spot with, perhaps, Rankin-Costello, Cirino and Garrett the likely options after Pickering. I don't think JRC is suited for that role but he has been put there before. Alternately, perhaps, Mowbray feels that Cirino might be ready to be a back-up.

Edit:

I see that Douglas is playing in Poland now with Lech Poznan. And they're top of the league. So maybe, I'll be wrong about Bell having the better season, albeit in, possibly, a different style of play.

Bell is rubbish, he was rubbish since we signed him. He can't block crosses, cross it himself and he takes too long on the ball. It was completely understandable that even Douglas at 50% was better. I still don't know how Bell got in the League 1 team of the season. Terrible left back, absolute liability. I understand the rose tinted ,to a degree, look back at Raya, but my god let's not go there with Bell. 

[windymiller7]

I don't know how many on here watched Nobbers game last night, but after watching Sheff Utd-Swansea on Saturday I didn't think a game of football could get any more boring (yes even under Mogga) but Hudds & Nobbers proved me wrong.

It must've been the worst game of football I've ever watched, & believe me I've seen some crap!

If that's the best they can offer, they're in for a very long old season. Can't see Hemmings putting up with McAvoy for long.

[JacknOry]

42 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Bell is rubbish, he was rubbish since we signed him. He can't block crosses, cross it himself and he takes too long on the ball. It was completely understandable that even Douglas at 50% was better. I still don't know how Bell got in the League 1 team of the season. Terrible left back, absolute liability. I understand the rose tinted ,to a degree, look back at Raya, but my god let's not go there with Bell. 

I don't think many are doubting he was poor for us. Heck, there would have been an outcry should he have signed this apparent extension offered to him. That said, I always follow our departures, at least in the beginning to see how they're doing and Luton fans love him. Early days of course, and I'm sure they will quickly realise his flaws once they go on a bit of a bad run.

Sunderland fans have liked what they've seen from Evans too. We all know he can play when he wants - but of course, in true Cory-style, he has just got injured again.  

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

There is absolutely no evidence that Brereton could be a prolific goalscorer.

Not bothered about evidence but we have seen a more confidence Brereton this season and he is 2 goals in 2 games. His headed goal on Saturday was excellent. I think he will get 15 goals plus this season

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

If they moaned at winning but not passing it out from the back, but enjoy the drivel currently on show, of which I have no evidence that it is the case, then they are idiots. Swansea could be nearer to the bottom 3 than the top 6 if they are careful.

The fans will say that they want to played like they did under Rodgers and Martinez passing football. 

I don't expect them to be top 6 this season. They don't have the squad 

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Hugill was not that either, a focal point is different and perhaps they do miss that although I suppose Ched Evans is a similar player. But they are also missing Pearson and Davies IMO more than Hugill as they were the glue in their team, they never had a prolific goalscorer but they had players like Johnson, Browne, Barkhuizen and Sinclair all chipping in.

I think Evans is a very different type of striker to Hugill. But Hugill was that striker that they played off and the function off him. Yes Johnson, Browne and Barkhuizen did scored goals but they have struggled in the last 18 months. 

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

The case of appointing a caretaker manager permanently like we did with Bowyer seemed always destined to be not worth the risk.

I would say our appointment of Bowyer was very different circumstances. We just had 5 managers during that season. We need stability and Bowyer gave us that but built a very good squad in his 1st season that in his second season should have got top 6 for sure. In McAvoy being given the job was down to Risidale and Hemmings choice. But they didn't want a manager but a head coach. Still surprised they didn't go for Derek Adams. If they do make a change who do they go for?

[Waggy76]

1 hour ago, JacknOry said:

I don't think many are doubting he was poor for us. Heck, there would have been an outcry should he have signed this apparent extension offered to him. That said, I always follow our departures, at least in the beginning to see how they're doing and Luton fans love him. Early days of course, and I'm sure they will quickly realise his flaws once they go on a bit of a bad run.

Sunderland fans have liked what they've seen from Evans too. We all know he can play when he wants - but of course, in true Cory-style, he has just got injured again.  

I wonder if Evans will be fit for the forthcoming internationals ???

[Admiral Nelsen]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I thought here that Bell was perhaps even poorer going forward than he was defending.

He did get 3 goals in that first full season back in the Championship, all of which were in defeats which summed him and our defence up at that time. But I can't recall a single assist from a cross from him in his time here, so I always found the potential of playing him as a wing back to be a curious one.

Their standards at left back must be low and I am sure that over time, they will become as furstrated with him as we did.

 

I think Bell eventually got to the stage where he travelled with the ball well. The trouble was his delivery, which as others have said, was pretty much as bad as it gets. 

 

I think once most people make their mind up on a player, it takes something pretty drastic to change their opinion. Bell did improve a decent amount over the last couple of years in my view - just not enough to make him good enough to be first choice and definitely not enough to shift the poor perceptions of him amongst Rovers fans. His good start will probably mean that Luton fans will never see him as the liability most Rovers fans did, although I agree they will come to see his limitations. 

[TheRoversReturn]

5 hours ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

I think once most people make their mind up on a player, it takes something pretty drastic to change their opinion. Bell did improve a decent amount over the last couple of years in my view - just not enough to make him good enough to be first choice and definitely not enough to shift the poor perceptions of him amongst Rovers fans. His good start will probably mean that Luton fans will never see him as the liability most Rovers fans did, although I agree they will come to see his limitations. 

Fully agree with that. Even when he played fine some fans were on his back.

He'd have been a decent enough left back cover, playing some games, but nobody is crying salt tears over his departure, however. 

[joey_big_nose]

I thought Bell was okay, better than Douglas who was horrendous. Pickering looks better to me though, so we have upgraded. Our sudden proficiency at set plays is down to Pickering imo. He's got a good delivery, links up well, is defensively competent, has a good engine and seems to be one of those players who will rarely get injured.

No world beater but a very solid signing.

[chaddyrovers]

Hughton seems to be under pressure at Forest already after 3 games

[chaddyrovers]

Surprised by Jokanovic start at Sheff Utd. 

[Mashed Potatoes]

Pleased to see Derby winning. I've seen Rooney described on here as a "poor manager" which I do not agree with. Given that it is his first job and the very difficult circumstances in which he has to work I think he's doing well.