Jon Dahl Tomasson - Officially No Longer Our Head Coach

[davulsukur]

3 minutes ago, Danny O.Brien said:

If Burnley end up bringing in palmer, delap and mcatee in from city 🤢. I think we've got the better/more experienced coach but kompany has the better footballing connections unfortunately. Can't wait to see how it all pans out next season.

Yeah, you'd imagine he'll have his pick of Man City loans.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, davulsukur said:

Yeah, you'd imagine he'll have his pick of Man City loans.

Last few we've had from City have been piss to be fair. Our lads are just as good as the ones who they'll allow to leave on loan.

[Exiled_Rover]

38 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

Dingles saying the same thing. 

"Don't even know who that guy is?"

"Everyone knows Kompany, had to Google your bloke"

One of them has a Champions League winners medal and it isn't Kompany.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 minute ago, Mellor Rover said:

Last few we've had from City have been piss to be fair. Our lads are just as good as the ones who they'll allow to leave on loan.

Nonsense. Harwood-Bellis is quality and Tosin is a good Championship defender too (albeit I'd play him as a DM).

Edited June 14, 2022 by Exiled_Rover

[Guest]

Just now, Exiled_Rover said:

Nonsense. Harwood-Bellis is quality and Tosin is a good Championship quality defender too.

I forgot about Tosin to be fair. Harwood-Bellis was part of a team who won 4 in 21 and conceded what felt like 60 goals. Wharton's genuinely better than him.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Genuinely exciting appointment, he’s going to be a real culture shock for some of our players. I also wonder if the new set up is a sign that our youngsters in the academy have much more potential than in the past.

Nothing wrong with the staff being kept on: at best their roles are now very secondary given he’s bringing in his two main men, and he’ll just sideline any he doesn’t rate. 

Edited June 14, 2022 by Exiled in Toronto

[Proudtobeblue&white]

Most positive appointment since they rocked up. I wish him well.

[Butty]

15 minutes ago, Mellor Rover said:

Last few we've had from City have been piss to be fair. Our lads are just as good as the ones who they'll allow to leave on loan.

Adarabaiyo was class, Harwood Bellis was okay but unfortunate he was in the side when we were on that horror run but there’s definitely a player there. Can’t remember any of the other recent ones, Jack Byrne wasn’t great but was here under Coyle and never really got a chance. Kompany will have his pick of the best ones. 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Butty said:

Adarabaiyo was class, Harwood Bellis was okay but unfortunate he was in the side when we were on that horror run but there’s definitely a player there. Can’t remember any of the other recent ones, Jack Byrne wasn’t great but was here under Coyle and never really got a chance. Kompany will have his pick of the best ones. 

Davenport too. Harwood-Bellis didn't get great reviews at Stoke either. Might turn good in the future, but we have 3 better CB's/CB's I'd rather play than him IMO.

[andyroversmad]

Will be interesting to see if JDT targets any players from his previous Malmo teams

[bluebruce]

It's great to have the manager saga resolved, Mowbray replaced, and it not be any of the numerous losers that we were linked with (although also not one of the best ones we were linked with either). I also think the combination of foreign head coach and DoF could be the right model to go with moving forward. Whilst great players don't automatically make great managers, Tomasson has enough reputation from his playing time to command a bit of respect and maybe act as a draw for new signings. He seems a much more positive personality than Mowbray, and being early into his managerial career will really want to prove himself. This combo should expand our knowledge and contacts in Scandinavia considerably, which has often been an under-exploited market (unfortunate that Brexit now makes it far harder to exploit though). It could have been done a bit earlier, but with the way we are ran it could also have dragged on another couple of weeks and crippled us in the market.

All of that said, I do have reservations. The more I think about it, my main reservation is that the DoF is Gregg Broughton. I think you can get away with an inexperienced DoF or an inexperienced (relatively) manager, but combining the two, at a club that has never used this model before, with both starting at the same time, and a lot of player trading needed, is not the best recipe for success. Either Broughton could have done with a more tried and tested manager to support him in senior player acquisition (which he has never done before), or Tomasson could have done with a tried and tested DoF to let him take charge of purely training and tactics whilst he gets used to a new club, new players and (managerially) a new country. Broughton clearly did a good job in directing the development of youngsters at Glimt, and with our own excellent academy and reliance upon it, it can only be a boon for our youth development moving forward. The problem is his experience only extends as far as what Stuart Jones is already doing, but that isn't the role he is taking up. He will have to sign senior players for us now, primarily in a market he hasn't worked in for a few years (as work permits limit what we can do in Europe, especially in Norway), at a time when we basically need to replace nearly half a squad on likely a low budget. A low budget which may suddenly bloom late in the window if BBD is sold late. The youth work is a plus, as I say, but his personal work on it could take years to bear fruit. Hopefully Gregg turns out to be as skilled at signing (and probably negotiating) for senior players as he seems to have been with youth players, and my worry is for nought.

I do have some reservations about Tomasson too...not so much about the man himself, despite not having too much managerial experience yet (as he does have some and has had recent success, so it's a far cry from appointing someone like Ferguson). It's more that I worry he might not be the right fit for the club right now. From reading posts on here at least, it seems he likes to play 4-4-2 and possession football. IMO this will require more signings, as I don't think our squad is well set up for either of these things. I've nothing against 4-4-2, I think people are wrong to treat it as obsolete when it's merely unfashionable. But, we own ZERO proper wingers. Assuming he wants players who can beat a man and put a good cross in, we don't have a single player who meets that criteria. Under Mowbray we have essentially assembled wide attackers who wouldn't really work in a traditional 4-4-2. If the 4-4-2 he plays isn't the traditional one with proper wingers, this might not be an issue. But if it is, we need to sign two new wingers. Probably three so we're not left unable to get crosses in if there are injuries. We can probably 'wing it' with the 4th you would usually need to cover both being injured, from our current crop. Using the previous formations I'd have said we only needed to bring in one wide player to replace Khadra and Poveda.

We also don't have the players suited to possession football. We demonstrated this amply in the 2020/21 season, although of course the personnel and thankfully the manager have changed since then. To my mind, only the following players are really capable in this style: Buckley, Dack, Kaminski. Arguably, Travis will be OK (because even a possession side needs a spoiler, and his basic sideways passing is unremarkable but acceptable), and Wharton and Pickering probably wouldn't struggle to fit in but aren't exceptional at it and of course just defenders so won't impact it that much anyway.

There are two big pluses here though which make this less of a worry for me. Firstly, the new manager, who has had recent success playing that style, can hopefully implement it far better than dour TM, whose sole tactic with possession was just to keep the ball and get the possession stat at the end of the match as high as possible. He had an absolute lack of invention when it came to creating space and deliveries in the final third. I don't think he understood possession football at all. We just passed it around the edge of the box and nobody really made movement to open space, then eventually we would lose it, the other team goes down the other end and has a proper effort at goal. Secondly, the void of players is actually an advantage for switching the style. A lot of new players (hopefully) coming in means we can sign the players who DO suit the style. The core of Dack and Buckley for the middle is enough to work with if we are bringing in some quality (though talented ball players might be hard to get with our budget). We have lost Rothwell and will probably lose BBD, these were two of the players key in making the counter-attack our most effective style. So in a way it's a chance to transition approach without wasting the best qualities of two of our key players. If Tomasson knows how to do this approach properly (which, the signs are there for) and we recruit properly (that's the part that worries me as per above) this could still turn into a massive positive and the good times may return.

We await the results with baited breath!

[Vilesinner]

20 minutes ago, andyroversmad said:

Will be interesting to see if JDT targets any players from his previous Malmo teams

Hopefully Antonio Colak. 

[bluebruce]

39 minutes ago, Mellor Rover said:

Davenport too. Harwood-Bellis didn't get great reviews at Stoke either. Might turn good in the future, but we have 3 better CB's/CB's I'd rather play than him IMO.

We have two. We can't really say Carter is better. In their first team appearances for us, I'd say THB did better than Carter did. I'm optimistic about the latter still though.

THB didn't do well at Stoke huh...probably means he is still available for a Championship loan? Probably doesn't fit the new style, more of a battler from what I remember, otherwise tbh I'd consider having him back, given our likely restraints, if we were signing a better CB too.

[Blue blood]

3 hours ago, danger19_80 said:

None of the 4 managers taken on by Champ teams this summer so far have experience of the league. Not the be all and end all.

Never said it was. Although it is often a factor. 

3 hours ago, deanives said:

He may not have the English experience but his experienced assistant was at sheff weds for 2 years.

Didn't realise that. Good to know someone has some experience of the Championship. 

3 hours ago, deanives said:

I think you have to look at the positives rather than the negatives. 

Mate I've looked at the positives and the negatives! I think it's called balance, if not realism. No appointment is ever going to be completely good or completely bad (well Kean but he wasn't a manager but a con job) so there will be pros and cons. It's ok to acknowledge both. It doesn't make you a super fan pretending the latter don't exist. 

[JBiz]

The more I think about our new setup, the more encouraged and optimistic I am.

Obviously it’s all down to actual success but I feel like this is the first time we can actually appreciate some creativity from our owners and management.

[eire3382]

The first time since Mark H was appointed that I feel we have a potentially exciting manager. You can point to our new set up and call it inexperienced. However we have actually seen something very un venky happen. These appointments actually makes some sense. A dof who can spot good young players and a manager who is happy to leave player signing to a dof. Plus he has been allowed bring in his men. I would go further and say he was the choice of the dof which is really joined up thinking. Frightening stuff really 

[OsloRover]

Welcome Jon and team, happy to have you here!

Much better than I expected / feared and great to see some positivity around here.

[Miller11]

5 hours ago, Gav said:

NFT's are scams, leave well alone Miller.

Oh I know Gav. Unfortunately our head of commercial spent about 2 hours telling me how wonderful they were and how they would replace tickets sales as a revenue stream for Rovers. 

[Dreyski]

Add me to the 'cautiously optimistic' group. Has said all the right things in his (short) time with us, but the real proof comes with the signings, the lineups, the performances and the results. He's got responsibility for three of those things, but the other lies with Broughton, and ultimately, their paymasters.

A little surpised JDT mentioned Waggott selling the club to him. I wouldn't trust Waggott with a school tuckshop.

[simongarnerisgod]

welcome to ewood park mr tommason,for the first time in years,im`e genuinely looking forward to the start of the season,hopefully nyambe signs on and jdt has some serious contacts in scandanavia and holland,sure he`ll have a decent budget as well

on the issue of kompany,he made a mess of the anderlecht job,the biggest club in belgium by far and barely made 3rd place,he`s going to fail at turd morgue,especially when they barely have a squad and no money

[RoversTilliDie]

3 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Nonsense. Harwood-Bellis is quality and Tosin is a good Championship defender too (albeit I'd play him as a DM).

I agree Harwood-Bellis was a decent player on loan.

[roversfan99]

4 hours ago, Displaced Rover said:

Mowbray was shite and should have been sacked 2 years ago.

He antagonised the fans and constantly talked the club down, that's why people have "insulted" him...

Should have been sacked a year ago but then oversaw a season of significant improvement. Micro analysis of the former managers press conferences are no longer needed.

Either way, looking forward, we was right to change and roll the dice. Lets hope we can improve our league position and finally break that top 6 ceiling, that has to be the acid test.

23 minutes ago, goozburger said:

Mark Atkins on JDT: "Hopefully for me, we're going to get a number nine up front for a change."

https://twitter.com/BBCLancsSport/status/1536749253283958785?s=20&t=PHzHHa-F6YgwYwEVML2zNg

One thing we have had in the last 5 years is regular goalscorers in Dack, Graham, Armstrong and Brereton. We need Tomasson/the DOF to find a good striker though and hope that Dack and co can chip in with plenty.

[RoversTilliDie]

Looking forward to the new season with Tomasson the new manager in place at last. We have decent youngsters at Ewood, all this talk about man city loanees at burnley.Buckley (goal of the season at Birmingham) Wharton etc.

[RoversTilliDie]

30 minutes ago, goozburger said:

Mark Atkins on JDT: "Hopefully for me, we're going to get a number nine up front for a change."

https://twitter.com/BBCLancsSport/status/1536749253283958785?s=20&t=PHzHHa-F6YgwYwEVML2zNg

Hopefully we will get players played in their correct positions under JDT. They play a lot better in there natural position.

[neophox]

4 hours ago, davulsukur said:

Sharpe seems to be under the impression he's signed for Boro, just waiting to announce it.

Maybe he saw Tomasson coming and changed his mind......bobbling...