Pre season 23/24

[WacoRover]

it appears final, 2-2. Thanks for updates, guys, this Texan appreciates it! 
 

Edited July 8, 2023 by WacoRover

[goozburger]

8 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Did Dolan have a poor season last year? 5 goals and 5 assists whilst playing all over the front line

Not exactly enough in a promotion-chasing side, is it? He's still only 21, but I have a feeling that he's one of these players that is at his peak during his younger years. He still has time on his side, of course. Hopefully he will live up to expectations this season.

[BigBar]

Sounds like alot flattered to decieve. I don't need to hear the "it's pre season" stuff, it's always nice to see some decent performances from players you feel need it. Disappointing both goals were from errors from players that divide opinion massively.

[Guest]

Nothing we didn’t already know… need to sign some goals!

[simongarnerisgod]

14 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Did Dolan have a poor season last year? 5 goals and 5 assists whilst playing all over the front line - not bad for a 20 year old.

Vale was completely anonymous, mind. 

he always is ,for a lad who could`nt hack it at halifax i see no future for him at this level

[yankfan]

3 minutes ago, BigBar said:

Sounds like alot flattered to decieve. I don't need to hear the "it's pre season" stuff, it's always nice to see some decent performances from players you feel need it. Disappointing both goals were from errors from players that divide opinion massively.

For Batty, Garret, Leonard, Vale, S Wharton and others preseason can make or break their future with the club. They better be treating this like the opportunity it is. 

[Andy]

Minutes under the belt, isn't it? Main thing at this stage.

Good to hear Phillips look the part, could be a big season for him.

Also interesting to see the young midfielder get squad number 14 (presuming they are the final squad numbers), you'd presume that indicates involvement this season.

Also pleased to see TK start for the 'A' team.

[USABlue]

Bit worried about the season, lost or losing proven championship quality for gambles.  Also there seems to be a few teams in the past who have just missed out on playoffs or lost in the playoffs only to struggle the next season.

[Exiled_Rover]

18 minutes ago, Displaced Rover said:

Batty was well off it

Probably why they're being linked to LBs in the transfer window then.

[BankEnd Rover]

3 minutes ago, USABlue said:

Bit worried about the season, lost or losing proven championship quality for gambles.  Also there seems to be a few teams in the past who have just missed out on playoffs or lost in the playoffs only to struggle the next season.

There’s still 8 weeks of the transfer window?

[BankEnd Rover]

Just now, Exiled_Rover said:

Probably why they're being linked to LBs in the transfer window then.

A loan for batty will be the best option imo 

[cesus]

A Wharton and Ennis not going to Austria. Staying back at Brockhall to work on fitness according to Sharpe.

[Exiled_Rover]

13 minutes ago, BigBar said:

Sounds like alot flattered to decieve. I don't need to hear the "it's pre season" stuff, it's always nice to see some decent performances from players you feel need it. Disappointing both goals were from errors from players that divide opinion massively.

As I said on my comment about the video of the players getting off the team bus - they did not look thrilled to be there. I'd guess most were just going through the motions to build up some match fitness.

[Neal]

3 minutes ago, USABlue said:

Bit worried about the season, lost or losing proven championship quality for gambles.  Also there seems to be a few teams in the past who have just missed out on playoffs or lost in the playoffs only to struggle the next season.

Very easy to fall into this trap of thinking this way before every season. Truth is, the league is wildly unpredictable, a few good signings can proper you to promotion, a few bad ones can have you fighting for your lives. 

 

What we know is that there is a lot of quality and work ethic in the side already, just not enough up top yet. We have plenty of time to put ourselves in a strong position for this season. 

 

I won't stress, until it's time to stress. 

[G Somerset Rover]

3 minutes ago, cesus said:

A Wharton and Ennis not going to Austria. Staying back at Brockhall to work on fitness according to Sharpe.

Ominous with Ennis given what Plymouth fans have said.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[simongarnerisgod]

Just now, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Very ominous with Ennis.

he must be seriously out of shape😷

[roversfan99]

Suggests that Ennis is already injured. Hopefully just "not match fit."

[Exiled_Rover]

10 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

There’s still 8 weeks of the transfer window?

In a season of fine margins you don't want 4+ games to drift by before you bring in reinforcements. They should be in for the majority of the pre-season so you can hit the ground running. 

[BankEnd Rover]

10 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

In a season of fine margins you don't want 4+ games to drift by before you bring in reinforcements. They should be in for the majority of the pre-season so you can hit the ground running. 

Come on mate, although we all wish that, it never works like that….especially with our budget.

Edited July 8, 2023 by BankEnd Rover

[roversfan99]

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/23643017.maybe-four---tomasson-makes-blackburn-rovers-signing-pledge/

Mentions wanting 3-4 players, 2 loans and 2 permanents potentially.

Specifically said he wants them as soon as possible to get them integrated, personally not sure that will happen if we wants loans especially with the next week being spent away.

Also mentioned a potential experienced centre back and how the striker is likely to be a loan.

If we get 4, I think striker, right wing and centre back are obvious, think we also could do with a left back as although Pickering is underrated by many, we only have him as a senior option.

Edit: meant for the transfer thread. Please can it be moved.

Edited July 8, 2023 by roversfan99

[DeeCee]

First day back at work syndrome

They'll improve. 👍

[chaddyrovers]

Firstly, it was good to get back to watching Rovers today. 

First game was ok game. Ash Phillips was our best player on the pitch. Tronstad look decent enough. Not good enough up front. . Kaminski made a couple of good saves. 

Second game, we started poorly and Pears should have done much better with their first goal. Wharton was caught out for both goals. Second goal was a pen. Then that sort of woke Rovers up and we scored very good goals cos we upped their tempo of our possession. JRC our best player. Dolan scored a good goal as did Hedges. Almost scored with the last kick of the game with JRC 's free kick which I think was going in. 

So from both games I will say Rovers need more signings in forward area. Still need a main 9 striker and right side attacking player. Still think we need another left back more than centre back for me. Batty not ready yet. 

I will say that Stanley's food is reasonable price and simple menu. Tho I couldn't watch Stanley play regular. Not for me. They had 6 players on trial today. Such a dull team to watch. 

[K-Hod]

51 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

As I said on my comment about the video of the players getting off the team bus - they did not look thrilled to be there. I'd guess most were just going through the motions to build up some match fitness.

I don’t think many people are ever thrilled to be in Accy in fairness…

[Miller11]

Just got home. Nice to have football back, and I know it’s only pre-season but that wasn’t great.

Fist game we were pretty comfortable. Phillips was absolutely flawless. Won everything in the air and on the deck, good in possession, looked more than physically capable. Needs keeping round the first team and on todays showing will soon be the first name on the team sheet.

Pickering took up the JRC role of coming inside, did it pretty well too. He was up against a tricky winger who went off injured who looked like he might cause us some problems. Szmodics dropped deep a lot and made very intelligent forward passes. Tronstad looks a player, very neat and tidy, gets stuck in, can play on the half turn and get us forward. Hyam was typically solid, Buckley didn’t really shine and was sloppy at times. Brittain had a quiet game but was wasteful in possession and didn’t exploit the acres of space he had in front of him.

The big issue is that front three. We will do nothing with Gallagher, Vale and Markanday. Gallagher was Gallagher… should’ve done better with a couple of headers, kept coming short for a pass into feet rather than being a nuisance in the box, didn’t do much. Markanday made a couple of crowd pleasing tackles and broke away, but his end product was severely lacking. Both him and Vale were rubbish in the first period, Vale is not an option out wide at all, that rumoured loan is the correct decision.

 

Second game was worse. We looked all over the place for large periods and the young lads really struggled. I was looking forward to seeing O’Grady-Macken, but he was anonymous. Zak Gilsenan was a marked man and got badly fouled and kicked a few times and it seemed to force him into his shell… he’s a good looking bugger and should probably wear shin pads against league 2 trialists in future. Batty struggled too but did grow into the game, he was a bit unfortunate as he kept looking for an out ball down the wing but nobody was there. Our formation was confused and ragged. I thought Garrett looked good, perhaps not being the kid of the group has helped, he looked more confident on the ball. Dolan has hit the gym hard. He’s still got that explosive burst of pace, but he’ll still be outdone over long distances, he won’t be knocked off the ball easily though and was pretty lively. Wharton started pretty well but got done badly for their second. Leonard didn’t shine, but he didn’t get a lot of service. JRC looked a cut above, proper classy player. We looked a lot more cohesive when he went further forward and got involved. At present he’s probably our best bet to replace Brereton (until Sigurdsson is ready at least).

Final thoughts… every corner was short and shite! Kaminski looked the better of the keepers. The crowd were getting really wound up and were loudly urging players to shoot on sight, whether our reluctance to get a shot off is down to tactical choice or personnel, we will have to see. It will have been as obvious to Broughton as it was to everyone else we need some attacking players in.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Miller11

[Ricky]

8 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

I will say that Stanley's food is reasonable price and simple menu. Tho I couldn't watch Stanley play regular. Not for me. They had 6 players on trial today. Such a dull team to watch. 

Mate, it’s a pre-season friendly. I think judging Stanley on that is a bit unfair. Would you judge us on that?