January Transfer Window.

[wilsdenrover]

14 hours ago, Sparks Rover said:

No pace and not too comfy on the ball our centre backs, a prerequisite for 3 at the back.

Chaddy - in the WBA thread you’ve stated that ‘football isn’t about entertainment but winning games’

You’ve said in here ‘I don’t get why we need to change things up a bit’

Surely these are contradictory given we’ve won 2 out of 10 league matches since the World Cup break…

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by wilsdenrover

[47er]

18 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Chaddy - in the WBA thread you’ve stated that ‘football isn’t about entertainment but winning games’

You’ve said in here ‘I don’t get why get why we need to change things up a bit’

Surely these are contradictory given we’ve won 2 out of 10 league matches since the World Cup break…

 

 

Don't worry, when Mowbray was here and we lost matches it was all about the performance.

[wilsdenrover]

2 minutes ago, 47er said:

Don't worry, when Mowbray was here and we lost matches it was all about the performance.

Oh I’m not worried, just curious 🧐- there may be an explanation and it’s just too early for me to see it for myself.

 

[Exiled_Rover]

12 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Not for me, 4-2-3-1 formation suits the squad currently. Since Christmas, JDT has stuck with one formation and its suits this squad.

I personally don't think any formation fits this squad - it's not been built by Mowbray with a certain formation in mind. 

We now have a plethora of CBs, but we don't have the WB to play with 3 at the back (anyone shoehorning Brittain / JRC / Thomas / Dolan in as a RWB has to be aware that Pickering cannot play LWB).

JDT wants to play 4-2-3-1 long-term. He has the flexibility on the bench to shift to 3 CBs when trying to grind out a win. I think that's a fine state of affairs as we limp to the finish line this season.

[Blue blood]

2 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

Oh I’m not worried, just curious 🧐- there may be an explanation and it’s just too early for me to see it for myself.

 

I think the explanation's fairly obvious. 

[wilsdenrover]

1 hour ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I personally don't think any formation fits this squad  - it's not been built by Mowbray with a certain formation in mind. 

We now have a plethora of CBs, but we don't have the WB to play with 3 at the back (anyone shoehorning Brittain / JRC / Thomas / Dolan in as a RWB has to be aware that Pickering cannot play LWB).

JDT wants to play 4-2-3-1 long-term. He has the flexibility on the bench to shift to 3 CBs when trying to grind out a win. I think that's a fine state of affairs as we limp to the finish line this season.

You’d have thought that, if nothing else, after five years the squad would have fitted exactly how he wanted to play (formation and style)

This is our fifth season back in the championship - why are we only at the start of a long term project…

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by wilsdenrover
To add a further thought

[Upside Down]

4 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

Chaddy - in the WBA thread you’ve stated that ‘football isn’t about entertainment but winning games’

You’ve said in here ‘I don’t get why get why we need to change things up a bit’

Surely these are contradictory given we’ve won 2 out of 10 league matches since the World Cup break…

 

 

As he has stated previously, the club can do no wrong. If they bussed in a load of kids from the area and beheaded them all at half time I'm sure chaddy would be just fine with it.

[Sweaty Gussets]

4 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

Chaddy - in the WBA thread you’ve stated that ‘football isn’t about entertainment but winning games’

His position on that has changed somewhat!

[Exiled_Rover]

17 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Centre halves is where we are strongest at the moment. We’ve got four good players for two places at the moment with another one in Phillips on the horizon.

Ayala is off in the summer - it was a canny transfer offer, just didn't come off.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, wilsdenrover said:

You’d have thought that, if nothing else, after five years the squad would have fitted exactly how he wanted to play (formation and style)

This is our fifth season back in the championship - why are we only at the start of a long term project…

 

 

Because the previous bloke didn't build anything - he adapted his formation every year based on the PL loans he could get his hands on... although even that was trial and error. 

The new guy, the one getting all the pelters despite going deep in both cup competitions and having us there or there abouts in the league with a shambles of a squad, is trying to introduce a consistent formation and style of play. 

[Penwortham Blue]

https://twitter.com/the92bible/status/1625913626216235009?s=46&t=Xv0TI_G6tTTwLBKisIqcJw

A view from outside Blackburn, for those who continue to dumb-down our great club. 

[Penwortham Blue]

30 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

His position on that has changed somewhat!

I love watching great, entertaining football. When it comes to Rovers, I don’t care how we play, I simply just want to win, by hook or by crook and at all costs.

[RoversClitheroe]

2 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

I love watching great, entertaining football. When it comes to Rovers, I don’t care how we play, I simply just want to win, by hook or by crook and at all costs.

Agreed, however if the performance is shit and we lose its absolutely awful.

As has been the case various times this season 

[roversfan99]

28 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Because the previous bloke didn't build anything - he adapted his formation every year based on the PL loans he could get his hands on... although even that was trial and error. 

The new guy, the one getting all the pelters despite going deep in both cup competitions and having us there or there abouts in the league with a shambles of a squad, is trying to introduce a consistent formation and style of play. 

Was it a shambles of a squad, considering that the majority of it finished 8th?

And has the work done in the transfer market this season (more than 50% being loans) any different an approach?

[Sweaty Gussets]

41 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

I love watching great, entertaining football. When it comes to Rovers, I don’t care how we play, I simply just want to win, by hook or by crook and at all costs.

I agree.

But some people don't like certain managers because they perceive them to be 'old-fashioned' managers who don't play 'modern' entertaining football. Examples would be Warnock and Dyche. 

But then they change their minds when they realise the current manager of the team they support doesn't play entertaining football either. 

They then decide only results matter. 

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Was it a shambles of a squad, considering that the majority of it finished 8th?

And has the work done in the transfer market this season (more than 50% being loans) any different an approach?

I'd say so, yes. The following 11 players all got significant minutes. God knows what the loan fees and wage contributions were (substantial I'm sure), but they all left for the princely sum of £0 in the summer. How are you meant to succession plan there?

 

Defence:

Lenihan and Nyambe left.

Van Hecke, Giles and Zeefuik were on loan.

 

Midfield:

Davenport, Johnson and Rothwell left.

Clarkson was on loan.

 

Attack:

Khadra and Poveda were on loan 

[chaddyrovers]

 

 

[bluebruce]

43 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I'd say so, yes. The following 11 players all got significant minutes. God knows what the loan fees and wage contributions were (substantial I'm sure), but they all left for the princely sum of £0 in the summer. How are you meant to succession plan there?

 

Defence:

Lenihan and Nyambe left.

Van Hecke, Giles and Zeefuik were on loan.

 

Midfield:

Davenport, Johnson and Rothwell left.

Clarkson was on loan.

 

Attack:

Khadra and Poveda were on loan 

It's a bit disingenuous though to list who left, not list replacements and other factors, then deem the result a shambles of a squad.

Defence:

Lenihan replaced by Hyam. Nyambe replaced by Brittain.

Van Hecke (quality but no longer play 3 at the back), Giles (barely placed in defence, criminally misused as a right-sided forward, not an effective contributor as a result), Zeefuik (barely played, injured a lot, not very good...usefulness of Carter and JRC as RBs now more than compensate for him)

Midfield:

Davenport (barely played, Garrett coming through), Johnson (wasn't good enough IMO, emergence of Wharton preferable, who the manager really should play more), Clarkson (useless, replaced by Morton who isn't much better).

Rothwell left. (This one hasn't been replaced. We did bring in Szmodics, but he plays further forward.)

Attack:

Poveda (useless, didn't need replacing, we have plenty of players who can fill that role and I'd rather see Dolan there). Khadra (not really replaced, Hedges didn't look like a footballer last season but looks useful now...doesn't have that pace though, but probably isn't much less useful overall as Khadra was pretty hit and miss).

All in all, we're only really down Rothwell and the mercurial element of Khadra. A few signings, some of the players you mentioned being as useful as a thumb on a foot, and the emergence or re-emergence of some players already here has made the squad strength roughly equivalent to last season's. Some replacements are a bit stronger, some are a bit weaker. There's also our access to a fully fit Dack now I didn't mention.

Edited February 17, 2023 by bluebruce

[Exiled_Rover]

6 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

It's a bit disingenuous though to list who left, not list replacements and other factors, then deem the result a shambles of a squad.

Defence:

Lenihan replaced by Hyam. Nyambe replaced by Brittain.

Van Hecke (quality but no longer play 3 at the back), Giles (barely placed in defence, criminally misused as a right-sided forward, not an effective contributor as a result), Zeefuik (barely played, injured a lot, not very good...usefulness of Carter and JRC as RBs now more than compensate for him)

Midfield:

Davenport (barely played, Garrett coming through), Johnson (wasn't good enough IMO, emergence of Wharton preferable, who the manager really should play more), Clarkson (useless, replaced by Morton who isn't much better).

Rothwell left. (This one hasn't been replaced. We did bring in Szmodics, but he plays further forward.)

Attack:

Poveda (useless, didn't need replacing, we have plenty of players who can fill that role and I'd rather see Dolan there). Khadra (not really replaced, Hedges didn't look like a footballer last season but looks useful now...doesn't have that pace though, but probably isn't much less useful overall as Khadra was pretty hit and miss).

All in all, we're only really down Rothwell and the mercurial element of Khadra. A few signings, some of the players you mentioned being as useful as a thumb on a foot, and the emergence or re-emergence of some players already here has made the squad strength roughly equivalent to last season's. Some replacements are a bit stronger, some are a bit weaker. There's also our access to a fully fit Dack now I didn't mention.

So what you're saying is Mowbray spent the money incredibly poorly (money we're never getting back - including Brereton-Diaz who's about to leave on a free) and JDT / Broughton have had to spent almost their entire transfer kitty just to try and stand pat?

Carter, Garrett and A. Wharton weren't in the picture last year, which is why I excluded them from the list. Their development, long with that of Hedges and JRC is simply a credit to JDT and co. 

Sounds like a shambles of a squad to me. 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Exiled_Rover

[Mattyblue]

6 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

He’s a fair point.

Many second choice keepers don’t even play U21 games these days, so obviously can go months on end without a single minute of match action… then get chucked in a very high profile position.

[tomphil]

Pears and JRC this season are great examples of how more patience is going to be needed with some players now given the way the club operates.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I'd say so, yes. The following 11 players all got significant minutes. God knows what the loan fees and wage contributions were (substantial I'm sure), but they all left for the princely sum of £0 in the summer. How are you meant to succession plan there?

 

Defence:

Lenihan and Nyambe left.

Van Hecke, Giles and Zeefuik were on loan.

 

Midfield:

Davenport, Johnson and Rothwell left.

Clarkson was on loan.

 

Attack:

Khadra and Poveda were on loan 

As @bluebruce sums up better than me, some of them are really stretching it. For a start, Clarkson went back in January and Poveda got injured before that, so we havent lost those 2 AND say Giles and Zeefuik because we only ever had 2 of them at a time available, although all 4 were ineffectual squad players anyway. Davenport barely ever played and Johnson was past it.

The number of loanees going back will be no different to last season, indeed Morton, Mola and Hirst (who obviously has already gone) again wont be missed, Thomas might be.

Lenihan and Nyambe have been successfully replaced with new replaements. Venkys prevented us from replacing Rothwell in January which made things harder and the choice to buy Szmodics and move Buckley has not worked out but that is not to do with what was left.

Kaminski, Pickering, Wharton, Brereton, Buckley, Travis and Gallagher were all regulars, Dolan played very regularly too and Dack would have if not for injured. It is most of the side that finished 8th.

 

[bluebruce]

25 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

So what you're saying is Mowbray spent the money incredibly poorly (money we're never getting back - including Brereton-Diaz who's about to leave on a free) and JDT / Broughton have had to spent almost their entire transfer kitty just to try and stand pat?

Carter, Garrett and A. Wharton weren't in the picture last year, which is why I excluded them from the list. Their development, long with that of Hedges and JRC is simply a credit to JDT and co. 

Sounds like a shambles of a squad to me. 

No, what I'm saying is the quality of the squad as it stands is not much different to the quality of the squad as it was. Which appeared to be the contested point between you and RF99.

How Mowbray spent money is fairly immaterial to that. After business was done, we weren't really any weaker. Those players not being in the picture last year is why they should be considered now in any list.

[DE.]

Bottom line for me is that we simply don't have enough goalscorers in the squad. Stop Diaz scoring and you basically stop Rovers from being effective. We've had two transfer windows to address this and have nothing to show for it. First window I can give a pass on to some degree, but it was criminal not to bring in at least one striker in January. It doesn't matter if deals were close, all that matters is whether we got them over the line, and we didn't. We will now tumble down the table as a result.

[Upside Down]

6 hours ago, Penwortham Blue said:

https://twitter.com/the92bible/status/1625913626216235009?s=46&t=Xv0TI_G6tTTwLBKisIqcJw

A view from outside Blackburn, for those who continue to dumb-down our great club. 

But wer junst a smoll tuwn klubbb