v QPR (h) - 30/7/22

[Displaced Rover]

Really looking forward to this. Appreciate we haven't got in the numbers we'd like but can't wait to see the lads back at Ewood.

New manager bounce, feel good afternoon, 4-nil Rovers.

[Admiral Nelsen]

11 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Dack played an hour at the weekend. I don't think he will start but I don't see why he can't play another hour on Saturday.

 

He did indeed - that passed me by. To be fair if he's fit enough to deal with the intensity of a league game for an hour or so then I agree that he should be in there. I suspect we'll be seeing Dolan a bit more as a 10 this year though, probably starting on Saturday.

 

Feel a bit of trepidation about this one. I think we'll be fine over the season once we have a few more bodies in, but I can see why lots of outsiders would look at our squad at the moment and put us as lower mid-table. I'd take a horrible 1-0 right now. 

[Admiral Nelsen]

9 minutes ago, JoeH said:

3-4-3

T. Kaminski

H. Carter
D. Ayala
S. Wharton

C. Brittain
L. Travis
J. Buckley
H. Pickering

T. Dolan
J. Vale
B. Brereton Díaz

 

 

No Gally in the XI Joe? I can see the appeal of going to 343 now that Brittain is through the door, but I'd be surprised if both Dolan and Vale get in front of him (although I'm looking forward to see what Vale can do if given the chance). 

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Herbie6590 said:

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/58051

Take a peek at the transfer activity section…😆

Cracking article Ian. Love the analogy about our transfer business starting to look like the Christmas presents being bought at the Service Station on Christmas Eve. The only bit I disagree with is the original poster saying Mowbray was hard done by. It seems quite clear from what Glen said (as I suspected) that he and the Club had an agreement to discuss his future at the end of the season but that Mowbray jumped the gun by announcing his departure before the Bournemouth game.

As for Saturday, haven't a clue what to expect. Wouldn't be entirely surprised if we either win 5 nil or lose 5 nil.

Edited July 26, 2022 by RevidgeBlue

[1864roverite]

0-0 bore draw

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

 

No Gally in the XI Joe? I can see the appeal of going to 343 now that Brittain is through the door, but I'd be surprised if both Dolan and Vale get in front of him (although I'm looking forward to see what Vale can do if given the chance). 

You can't have a pre-season like that and not get given the chance to go out and continue it. If it doesn't work in the league then fine, but I'd say it makes the most sense. Outside of him we'd need speed, Vale's great but not someone who's going to eliminate with pace. I think 3-4-3 is the system that suits our centre-backs the most, and obviously it suits Brittain. I think it gives Brereton his suited wide forward role. Makes the most sense in my head.

[M_B]

I'm expecting Hedges to be involved. 

[Admiral Nelsen]

10 minutes ago, JoeH said:

You can't have a pre-season like that and not get given the chance to go out and continue it. If it doesn't work in the league then fine, but I'd say it makes the most sense. Outside of him we'd need speed, Vale's great but not someone who's going to eliminate with pace. I think 3-4-3 is the system that suits our centre-backs the most, and obviously it suits Brittain. I think it gives Brereton his suited wide forward role. Makes the most sense in my head.

 

I think that's a fair comment (and being 21, he needs to be getting games now if he is ever to make his mark here).

That said, I'm cautious about reading too much into pre-season form. Might be a little risk averse but I think having Vale as our first option off the bench is a fair reward considering where he was in the pecking order last year. 

[TimmyJimmy]

Do we actually win season openers?

[Admiral Nelsen]

2 minutes ago, TimmyJimmy said:

Do we actually win season openers?

 

We did last year! 

Other than that though it was something like one win since Souness or something daft, so I take your point. 

[Hasta]

1 hour ago, 1864roverite said:

0-0 bore draw

Hopefully their keeper throws one in like he did for Khedra’s free kick last year. That was looking destined for 0-0 up until that point.

[Admiral Nelsen]

4 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Hopefully their keeper throws one in like he did for Khedra’s free kick last year. That was looking destined for 0-0 up until that point.

 

It did, but we were missing an unreal amount of chances on the way, first half especially. In the end we were a bit lucky, but had Rhodes still been playing for us we would've won 3-0. 

[roversfan99]

13 hours ago, Madon said:

Rovers 2 - 0 QPR

               Kaminski

Brittain Ayala Wharton Pickering

            Travis Buckley 

       Gallagher Dolan Diaz

                     Vale

 

Pears, Markanday, Dack, Carter, A.Wharton, Hedges, Edun

Not a bad side, looking forward to it and also happy that they've introduced the 5 subs rule, it should mean more minutes for our academy lads.

 

 

Gallagher wide? Mowbray would have been lynched!

[Sweaty Gussets]

28 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Gallagher wide? Mowbray would have been lynched!

That's very simplistic. Mowbray's wide men played wide, JDT wants them to come central and the FB's to provide the width. Same system, different tactics.

[roversfan99]

3 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

That's very simplistic. Mowbray's wide men played wide, JDT wants them to come central and the FB's to provide the width. Same system, different tactics.

Did they? Mowbray used to always go on about wanting Gallagher to get headers on the back post.

Either way, I wouldn't play him wide.

[Sweaty Gussets]

1 minute ago, roversfan99 said:

Did they? Mowbray used to always go on about wanting Gallagher to get headers on the back post.

Either way, I wouldn't play him wide.

 Mowbray used to say a lot of things! 

[Hullrover]

Can't see Gallagher not starting with Brittain playing. Hedges played lots in friendlies so think he will start. Like the fact that he is prepared to have a shot, and can get it reasonably on target. Dolan looked fit as a fiddle on Saturday and should play for 45-60 mins chasing down I would think. Would think Dack & Vale will come on if necessary.

[roversfan99]

The use of 5 subs could be a gamechanger and should be more motivation to sign maybe one extra attacking player than we otherwise would.

I don't really get why we can only name 7 subs though and it will be a challenge in itself to name a bench that covers all areas whilst giving as much scope as possible to provide game changing options.

[Sweaty Gussets]

1 minute ago, Hullrover said:

Can't see Gallagher not starting with Brittain playing. Hedges played lots in friendlies so think he will start. Like the fact that he is prepared to have a shot, and can get it reasonably on target. Dolan looked fit as a fiddle on Saturday and should play for 45-60 mins chasing down I would think. Would think Dack & Vale will come on if necessary.

What stood out from Mowbray's time at the club was how little we'd get to the by-line and score from crosses (or crosses from anywhere for that matter) I hope Brittains assist in the last game is a sign of things to come and that Gally is in the box more to get on the end of crosses. I think in an attack-minded team with the right service Gally is more than capable of 15-20 goals this season. 

[roversfan99]

24 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

What stood out from Mowbray's time at the club was how little we'd get to the by-line and score from crosses (or crosses from anywhere for that matter) I hope Brittains assist in the last game is a sign of things to come and that Gally is in the box more to get on the end of crosses. I think in an attack-minded team with the right service Gally is more than capable of 15-20 goals this season. 

Id love you to be right but I dont get how a conclusion of Gallagher getting that amount of goals is reached. 

[Sweaty Gussets]

7 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Id love you to be right but I dont get how a conclusion of Gallagher getting that amount of goals is reached. 

How many did he get under Coyle playing centrally in a shite team with a shite manager?

[Admiral Nelsen]

29 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

How many did he get under Coyle playing centrally in a shite team with a shite manager?

 

He spent a part of that season playing wide in a forward three too.

I think the Gally can't play wide thing is really overdone to be honest. He obviously couldn't be further away from a winger in a traditional sense, but the biggest issue like you say is that we don't get enough quality balls to him when he's in the box, which we can still do if he plays 'wide'. Big Sam used to do this all the time with Kevin Davies.

It's true that his weaknesses (esp. his first touch) are badly shown up in the ways that Mowbray set the team up, but I think that would be just as true if he played centrally. The slightly worrying thing is that we've had Douglas, Giles, Pickering and even Downing at left back who are all meant to be crossing specialists, and none of them really managed to get Gally into more scoring positions. This might be their fault, and it might be Mowbray's fault with how he saw their jobs, but it might also be down to Gally's lack of nous when it comes being in the right place at the right time, and if that doesn't improve then a change of system and better crossers can only do so much.

[Sweaty Gussets]

2 minutes ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

 

He spent a part of that season playing wide in a forward three too.

I think the Gally can't play wide thing is really overdone to be honest. He obviously couldn't be further away from a winger in a traditional sense, but the biggest issue like you say is that we don't get enough quality balls to him when he's in the box, which we can still do if he plays 'wide'. Big Sam used to do this all the time with Kevin Davies.

It's true that his weaknesses (esp. his first touch) are badly shown up in the ways that Mowbray set the team up, but I think that would be just as true if he played centrally. The slightly worrying thing is that we've had Douglas, Giles, Pickering and even Downing at left back who are all meant to be crossing specialists, and none of them really managed to get Gally into more scoring positions. This might be their fault, and it might be Mowbray's fault with how he saw their jobs, but it might also be down to Gally's lack of nous when it comes being in the right place at the right time, and if that doesn't improve then a change of system and better crossers can only do so much.

Good post. I think the difference under Coyle was we played with proper wingers - I think he scored about 12 that season and 4 or 5 were with his head. Another was that screamer of a volley! He's a better player than he's given credit for. 

Agree on the 'first touch', he isn't a natural with his back to goal like Graham was for example....Sharpe did make the point though that in pre-season he has dropped a lot deeper than he used to and has been linking up play on the deck a lot more than he did under Mowbray....that touch round the corner for the Vale goal was sublime!

Agree on his instinct to get in the box under Mowbray, he was often 5 yards behind where the ball ended up. Hopefully that was just a confidence/coaching thing and that he'll be more proactive under a more attacking coach. 

[Admiral Nelsen]

32 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Good post. I think the difference under Coyle was we played with proper wingers - I think he scored about 12 that season and 4 or 5 were with his head. Another was that screamer of a volley! He's a better player than he's given credit for. 

Agree on the 'first touch', he isn't a natural with his back to goal like Graham was for example....Sharpe did make the point though that in pre-season he has dropped a lot deeper than he used to and has been linking up play on the deck a lot more than he did under Mowbray....that touch round the corner for the Vale goal was sublime!

Agree on his instinct to get in the box under Mowbray, he was often 5 yards behind where the ball ended up. Hopefully that was just a confidence/coaching thing and that he'll be more proactive under a more attacking coach. 

 

I think you're completely right about him being a better player than he's given credit for. Some very good finishes in the relegation season and his physicality (even though he doesn't make the most of it in my view, but that's a different issue) is still a challenge for defenders. His weaknesses (alongside maybe the teams/coaches weaknesses) are pretty bad ones, but I've always thought the 'Gallagher is rubbish' and 'Gallagher is good but played as a winger' views are both wide of the mark. 

 

I was thinking of mentioning Graham, so I'm glad you've done it for me! I think the only way that he could play as a lone striker is if we wanted him to score goals and not much else, because he definitely can't hold up the ball in the way that someone like Graham did. I don't think we'll be playing with proper out and out wingers under JDT, but we might be playing with wing backs who get crosses in, which we never really did under Mowbray for some reason, even though we often had the players to do it.

 

 

[chaddyrovers]

7 hours ago, Wheelton Blue said:

That's the team I think he'll go with too Chaddy, and is what I'd pick.

1-1

10,800

I reckon we will win 3-1. 

I think they will be 14k plus crowd wise

6 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

Probs this team will play with the one caveat that maybe Markanday will get the nod ahead of Dolan. Dolan's been struggling a bit recently. 

Also would Adam Wharton not get ahead of Garrett on the bench? He seems slightly closer to a first team start?

While our bench is not great, if you step back and look at that starting XI it is pretty solid. It's just Pickering, Hedges and Dolan who I would prefer to not be starting at the moment. 

I'd hope we can win this one. Also I've moved up north so this is my first opening day game at Ewood ever!

I think Jake Garrett has been better from what I have seen. 

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

The use of 5 subs could be a gamechanger and should be more motivation to sign maybe one extra attacking player than we otherwise would.

I don't really get why we can only name 7 subs though and it will be a challenge in itself to name a bench that covers all areas whilst giving as much scope as possible to provide game changing options.

Why should it be more than 7 subs?