Jon Dahl Tomasson - Officially No Longer Our Head Coach

[Gutted]

3 hours ago, tomphil said:

I'd prefer a Bradley Johnson of a few years ago type sat in the middle than the Liverpool kid every day of the week.

I know he has some qualities but not enough contribution to start every game imo it's more about what he might do than what he actually does. 2 in 3 games he goes completely missing he's just too lightweight and wastes most set pieces he takes, we wouldn't end up camping in our own box against bottom of league at home if we actually had some solidity in the middle.

Such naive stuff it boils the blood.

I still can't fathom how Morton plays every single game and gets a free pass for contributing so little. 1 assist and no goals in 20 league games I think......Happy to be corrected if wrong. Not a patch on Harvet Elliot and far close to Leighton Clarkson. I'd chose Adam Wharton ahead of him based on what I've seen to date. 

[AllRoverAsia]

2 hours ago, Gutted said:

I still can't fathom how Morton plays every single game and gets a free pass for contributing so little. 1 assist and no goals in 20 league games I think......Happy to be corrected if wrong. Not a patch on Harvet Elliot and far close to Leighton Clarkson. I'd chose Adam Wharton ahead of him based on what I've seen to date. 

It must be a contract condition.

In any event to build a Championship midfield around a 19 year old lightweight loanee cannot be anything apart from a ONE year project and what is the point of that unless it absolutely guarantees success.

[DeeCee]

7 hours ago, Rover_in_the_South said:

I think overall I am just going to lower my expectations for the season, can't lose then! 

Another mediocre season sitting in mid table, maybe a good cup run as bonus. 

I've been lowering mine for the last 12 years and I'm still disappointed most weeks.

[Upside Down]

Nothing wrong with lowering expectations, mine are about as low as they can be and I'm still disappointed on a regular basis, although I am pleased with where we are in the league. 

The one thing I will never lower is my standards. When the Indian disease first manifested itself upon this great club we were sitting comfortably in the middle to top half of the Premier League. We were also probably one of the most well run clubs in the world. That is the minimum standard that I am prepared to accept from our supposed billionaire supposed owners. 

[AllRoverAsia]

3 hours ago, DeeCee said:

I've been lowering mine for the last 12 years and I'm still disappointed most weeks.

I've tried not to lower expectations. Without hope there is nowt. Without expectation I'd  give up on Rovers.

Maybe it will come to that.

Despite my criticisms of JDT and his being allowed to learn management in the English Game whilst practicing the Dutch Disease I full well know that the root evil resides in Pune. All the rest symptoms.

[Waggy76]

19 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Nobody is seriously saying sack the guy.  He needs more time, that is obvious. What lots of people are saying is everything about Sunday’s performance was unacceptable. There wasn’t one plus point. For me that applies to the managers response after the game. There should be somebody at the club telling him exactly that but there won’t be. There in lies the crux of all our problems.

Do you think Jack Walker would have accepted that shambles with a shrug of his shoulders ?

If Jack Walker was in charge , I suspect  JDT would be skating on very thin ice indeed ..

 

[J*B]

This ‘club plant’ nonsense is getting boring quick. Whilst there are people at Rovers and Venkys reading this, I can see all of account data, they don’t post. 

[Blue blood]

7 minutes ago, J*B said:

This ‘club plant’ nonsense is getting boring quick. Whilst there are people at Rovers and Venkys reading this, I can see all of account data, they don’t post. 

Why on earth do they bother? They don't care what we think, they (Venkys and Rovers) don't run the club properly or make good decisions, so what is the point? 

[Upside Down]

8 minutes ago, J*B said:

This ‘club plant’ nonsense is getting boring quick. Whilst there are people at Rovers and Venkys reading this, I can see all of account data, they don’t post. 

One lesson you must learn in life - NEVER let facts get in the way of a good old fashioned witch hunt.

[J*B]

3 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

Why on earth do they bother? They don't care what we think, they (Venkys and Rovers) don't run the club properly or make good decisions, so what is the point? 

To be fair the people reading from Venkys Towers seem to spend more time on each page than anyone else. Whether or not what they read gets reported back is another story. 

[Blue blood]

7 minutes ago, J*B said:

To be fair the people reading from Venkys Towers seem to spend more time on each page than anyone else. Whether or not what they read gets reported back is another story. 

Again, to reiterate, what's the point if nothing is reported or done about it?!

[J*B]

7 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

Again, to reiterate, what's the point if nothing is reported or done about it?!

Someone’s job maybe? 

[matt83]

Can you imagine having that as a job. Trawling through a website on behalf on cretins who couldn’t care less about what’s being said on said site. I’m picturing swag and Barry bling sat across a huge table asking for a report on what’s been written. Well the majority still despise you and for 12 years now all they’ve wanted is a properly run football club….bah not on our watch. Get out and find posts which say we’re not awful.

[tomphil]

11 hours ago, DE. said:

Mid-table is about right for me this season.

The concern from my perspective is that I simply don't think we'll ever have the budget to bring in the players JDT requires to make his style of play effective enough to get promoted. There aren't many Championship sides without parachute payments who have tippy-tapped their way out of the division (in an upwards trajectory, at least). This 'project' just doesn't seem like it is realistic within our constraints. I desperately hope I'm wrong, mind.

At the start of the season given the changes then yes but having seen what we can do and got ourselves again in a good position it would be another complete mess to end up there in May.

We can't keep going around in circles treading water, football goes in cycles for a lot of clubs and we are now at the upper end of ours after a decade of crap. Unless the management and investors push it as hard as they can now we'll be on a dip again before you can blink. 

Building a promotion side goes in 2 or 3 season cycles not 5 or 10 year ones that's just bull manure chucked about to safe guard positions.

Ambition is key and for a brief moment it looks like we have a guy who might have some but once hes sussed how easy life at Ewood is he'll become Mowbray mk2.  

If fans don't have a modicum of expectation at Rovers then who actually does ?

[den]

Everybody thinks the performance against Burnley was pretty pathetic - yes?

Some posters think because we are 3rd in the league, severe criticism of Sundays display, or any other poor display is somehow over the top, uncalled for or unfair.

Right?

Really?

[JHRover]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

At the start of the season given the changes then yes but having seen what we can do and got ourselves again in a good position it would be another complete mess to end up there in May.

We can't keep going around in circles treading water, football goes in cycles for a lot of clubs and we are now at the upper end of ours after a decade of crap. Unless the management and investors push it as hard as they can now we'll be on a dip again before you can blink. 

Building a promotion side goes in 2 or 3 season cycles not 5 or 10 year ones that's just bull manure chucked about to safe guard positions.

Ambition is key and for a brief moment it looks like we have a guy who might have some but once hes sussed how easy life at Ewood is he'll become Mowbray mk2.  

If fans don't have a modicum of expectation at Rovers then who actually does ?

Completely agree.

In football you have to strike whilst the iron is hot and things are unfolding in a positive manner. You never know how long it might last before things start to turn sour or unravel. If you have even a sniff of promotion you have to go for it - you never know when that chance might come again.

If we repeat our start to this season - even with horror shows a plenty away from home - we are going to be in the mix. Anyone happy with mid-table or even challenging for the top 6 from where we are right now I think is being pessimistic. We have to hope that if anything we improve with time and hopefully a few reinforcements in January.

At the moment we have a bright young squad but a Club that stays in the Championship is at risk of that quickly falling apart.

Stay down and Brereton goes in the summer, as does Ayala, wouldn't surprise me if a couple of others attract interest like Kaminski, with no money to spend it becomes a further 'project' of development taking more time.

JDT has a very high win percentage and has delivered more wins than any other manager in this league this season. I can't look beyond that right now. Yes there are issues and concerns, but his job is to win football matches and he has done that to a good degree so far. Its a lot better than I expected and I dare say most people expected.

It might not last, we might slide down the table, or we might get better as time goes on. we will have to worry about that if and when it happens. Right now he gets a solid mark from me on his start to life here and I'm intrigued as to how this season is going to pan out.

Sometimes things just work out well. That's what I'm hoping is the case with JDT - we've seen it elsewhere over the years in the Championship - Norwich with Lambert, Burnley with Coyle, Huddersfield with Wagner, Sheff Utd with Wilder - sometimes unexpected things happen and you have to make the most of it whilst you can, not idealise about 2-3 years from now when in all probability half this squad and manager won't be here.

 

[47er]

4 minutes ago, JHRover said:

his job is to win football matches

His job is also not to lose them.

[matt83]

1 hour ago, den said:

Everybody thinks the performance against Burnley was pretty pathetic - yes?

Some posters think because we are 3rd in the league, severe criticism of Sundays display, or any other poor display is somehow over the top, uncalled for or unfair.

Right?

Really?

It’s operation dumb down and sweep everything under the carpet. We are in a false position in terms of performances in the league and beaten 2 division 4 sides on what should ordinarily be a standard cup run. So when the luck runs out, and it will be when, Rovers will plummet down a poor league. Those very same fans who are lauding 3rd and the last 16 of the league cup as a justifiable excuse for anything will be finding reasons (excuses) to use for why where we will be is brilliant. Red hot favourites trotted out-budget, parachute payments, manager still learning his trade, anyone can beat anyone. 

Edited November 16, 2022 by matt83

[rigger]

12 minutes ago, matt83 said:

It’s operation dumb down and sweep everything under the carpet. We are in a false position in terms of performances in the league and beaten 2 division 4 sides on what should ordinarily be a standard cup run. So when the luck runs out, and it will be when, Rovers will plummet down a poor league. Those very same fans who are lauding 3rd and the last 16 of the league cup as a justifiable excuse for anything will be finding reasons (excuses) to use for why where we will be is brilliant. Red hot favourites trotted out-budget, parachute payments, manager still learning his trade, anyone can beat anyone. 

The only problem with your theory, is that the third place and last 16, are facts. Your view of what might happen is supposition.

[matt83]

1 hour ago, rigger said:

The only problem with your theory, is that the third place and last 16, are facts. Your view of what might happen is supposition.

True. But you don’t have to be Nostradamus to see where this one is going 

[RoverDom]

21 minutes ago, matt83 said:

True. But you don’t have to be Nostradamus to see where this one is going 

Heard that one since the transfer window opened 

Not exact quotes but words to this effect have been trotted out

"Shit squad relegation fodder" 

"Poor transfer window, we wont even have a sniff of the top 6 with this squad" 

"It doesn't take a genius to realise that WLWLWL will soon become LLLLL" 

The only prediction that has come true is "if we play like that against the dingles, we'll get trounced" 

 

Understandable anger at the Burley result, no excuses for it at all but even before that game you've got a a handful of fans who aren't happy unless they're having a moan about something. Never mind the fact that where we're at currently has exceeded even chaddy levels of optimism at the start of the season. 

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

5 hours ago, Waggy76 said:

If Jack Walker was in charge , I suspect  JDT would be skating on very thin ice indeed ..

 

If Jack was still around, he would have been in the dressing room pre Burnley match and NOBODY would be in any doubt as to how important the match was.

[AllRoverAsia]

22 minutes ago, RoverDom said:

Heard that one since the transfer window opened 

Not exact quotes but words to this effect have been trotted out

"Shit squad relegation fodder" 

"Poor transfer window, we wont even have a sniff of the top 6 with this squad" 

"It doesn't take a genius to realise that WLWLWL will soon become LLLLL" 

The only prediction that has come true is "if we play like that against the dingles, we'll get trounced" 

 

Understandable anger at the Burley result, no excuses for it at all but even before that game you've got a a handful of fans who aren't happy unless they're having a moan about something. Never mind the fact that where we're at currently has exceeded even chaddy levels of optimism at the start of the season. 

Then you get the fans who aren't happy unless they are moaning about fans who aren't happy unless they are moaning about something like for example a fucking shit performance.  

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I moan a lot about how we play. It’s called constructive criticism and it’s about the things we are getting wrong. The things we get right take care of themselves. Just my opinion of course.

We got things wrong when we won the Prem, I’d be moaning then but at least there was plenty to praise them for.

[DE.]

9 hours ago, tomphil said:

At the start of the season given the changes then yes but having seen what we can do and got ourselves again in a good position it would be another complete mess to end up there in May.

We can't keep going around in circles treading water, football goes in cycles for a lot of clubs and we are now at the upper end of ours after a decade of crap. Unless the management and investors push it as hard as they can now we'll be on a dip again before you can blink. 

Building a promotion side goes in 2 or 3 season cycles not 5 or 10 year ones that's just bull manure chucked about to safe guard positions.

Ambition is key and for a brief moment it looks like we have a guy who might have some but once hes sussed how easy life at Ewood is he'll become Mowbray mk2.  

If fans don't have a modicum of expectation at Rovers then who actually does ?

I will personally always have ambition and high expectations of Rovers - which is why I'm still genuinely upset when we have performances like Reading, Wigan, Burnley - but at the same time from what I've seen so far I simply don't think we'll finish in the top six and could go into a spiral of defeats/draws pretty quickly if morale dips. I get the feeling there will be clubs who get their act together from January onwards and it'll push clubs like us who are overachieving based on our performances thus far out of the picture.

I'd love to be proven wrong and we actually finish in the top six for the first time ever under Venky's, but what I've seen so far doesn't give me the belief it'll actually happen. We'll see though.