v Chelsea (a) - 1/11/23 - Carabao Cup

[roversfan99]

Tomasson's comments pre match are worrying about Hyam's fitness, and Szmodics now is seemingly a doubt for the weekend.

He also was asked about the standard that Telalovic has come from yet seemed to group Ennis in with him. Whilst he obviously also has come from a lower league, League 1 and the 4th tier in Germany are not comparable. He also suggested that there wont be money in January, unsurprisingly.

He said that he didnt want to change formation at the weekend because we were creating chances. Obviously that proved to be the wrong decision and seemingly it didn't do Szmodics any good. Besides the Leonard chance when Wharton played him in, apart from a few half chances and of course the header at the end, I didn't think we were knocking the door down by any stretch and we could have done with another player to potentially take a chance should it arise, eg Ennis.

It's a hard selection tomorrow, the squad is so thin that I appreciate that we cannot cope with any more injuries, but equally I agree that play offs arent happening, we likely will be in the middle somewhere and it feels like a chance to have a bright spark in a season that may be anticlimactic after recent years.

I hope the changes he makes arent wholesale ones, especially with Chelsea potentially going strong.

[Exiled_Rover]

45 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Tomasson's comments pre match are worrying about Hyam's fitness, and Szmodics now is seemingly a doubt for the weekend.

He also was asked about the standard that Telalovic has come from yet seemed to group Ennis in with him. Whilst he obviously also has come from a lower league, League 1 and the 4th tier in Germany are not comparable. He also suggested that there wont be money in January, unsurprisingly.

He said that he didnt want to change formation at the weekend because we were creating chances. Obviously that proved to be the wrong decision and seemingly it didn't do Szmodics any good. Besides the Leonard chance when Wharton played him in, apart from a few half chances and of course the header at the end, I didn't think we were knocking the door down by any stretch and we could have done with another player to potentially take a chance should it arise, eg Ennis.

It's a hard selection tomorrow, the squad is so thin that I appreciate that we cannot cope with any more injuries, but equally I agree that play offs arent happening, we likely will be in the middle somewhere and it feels like a chance to have a bright spark in a season that may be anticlimactic after recent years.

I hope the changes he makes arent wholesale ones, especially with Chelsea potentially going strong.

I thought we fluffed quite a few golden chances against Swansea (Leonard twice, JRC / Brittain, Szmodics a few times) - there was nothing wrong with the formation.

[Moptop1]

Tomorrow is damage limitation. I’ll still be there to cheer on the team.

[dallydally]

We'll get diddly squat from this one. A fixture we don't need 

[Mercer]

Really fear for us tomorrow.

Pochettino will see this as an opportunity for his team to score some goals, win convincingly, boost confidence and ease some pressure on himself.  No surprise he's fielding a strong team.

Our threadbare squad is now beyond breaking point and you can only look at fixtures against Norwich and Preston with a deep sense of foreboding.

We are in the mire and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Mercer

[Sweaty Gussets]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Tomasson's comments pre match are worrying about Hyam's fitness, and Szmodics now is seemingly a doubt for the weekend.

He said they'd know more about Hyam early next week and SS might be fit for the weekend. 

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

He also was asked about the standard that Telalovic has come from yet seemed to group Ennis in with him. Whilst he obviously also has come from a lower league, League 1 and the 4th tier in Germany are not comparable.

He didn't compare German T4 with L1. He said Telalovic and Ennis are similar in that neither are proven Championship goal scorers, and also that neither is Leonard. He said he now has to try and make them Championship goal scorers. He then talked about losing proven  Championship goal scorers in the summer. I think his point was fairly obvious. 

 

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

He also suggested that there wont be money in January, unsurprisingly.

He categorically stated he didn't know. Twice. 

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

He said that he didnt want to change formation at the weekend because we were creating chances. Obviously that proved to be the wrong decision and seemingly it didn't do Szmodics any good. Besides the Leonard chance when Wharton played him in, apart from a few half chances and of course the header at the end, I didn't think we were knocking the door down by any stretch and we could have done with another player to potentially take a chance should it arise, eg Ennis.

He made the valid point that we created enough quality chances (Leonard x 2) that his decision was justified. 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Sweaty Gussets

[Polky]

I’m looking forward to this tomorrow, managed to get tomorrow and Thursday off work 😀
 

I’m not expecting much from the game. I feel the same as I did before the West Ham match, so here’s hoping for the same result.

I just hope we don’t see Sterling or Mudryk ripping someone like Jake Batty apart. Would be good experience for the lad but I don’t think it would do much for his confidence.

It will be a £1bn squad versus a bunch of academy players. As long as we give it our all I will be happy.

 

[roversfan99]

38 minutes ago, dallydally said:

We'll get diddly squat from this one. A fixture we don't need 

How is it a game we don't need?

Its an exciting game to test ourselves against one of the biggest clubs in the country. An unlikely win would be remembered for many years.

In the league, promotion and relegation are incredibly unlikely, so it will probably be a season with little to show for it.

22 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

He said they'd know more about Hyam early next week and SS might be fit for the weekend. 

He didn't compare German T4 with L1. He said Telalovic and Ennis are similar in that neither are proven Championship goal scorers, and also that neither is Leonard. He said he now has to try and make them Championship goal scorers. He then talked about losing proven  Championship goal scorers in the summer. I think his point was fairly obvious. 

 

He categorically stated he didn't know. Twice. 

He made the valid point that we created enough quality chances (Leonard x 2) that his decision was justified. 

His decision wasn't necessarily justified, we lost. Obviously we might have lost had we gone with Ennis and Leonard together, but still.

I appreciate that neither Ennis nor Telalovic are proven Championship strikers, but one was playing in a ridiculously low standard league, the other played a big part in a team finishing on over 100 points in League 1.

[47er]

44 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

the other played a big part in a team finishing on over 100 points in League 1

But only played half the season in terms of minutes. Ennis was clearly a desperation signing. We just hoped we could get him fit and keep him fit. Hasn't worked out so far and we haven't sufficient alternatives to turn to.

[Penwortham Blue]

51 minutes ago, Polky said:

I’m looking forward to this tomorrow, managed to get tomorrow and Thursday off work 😀
 

I’m not expecting much from the game. I feel the same as I did before the West Ham match, so here’s hoping for the same result.

I just hope we don’t see Sterling or Mudryk ripping someone like Jake Batty apart. Would be good experience for the lad but I don’t think it would do much for his confidence.

It will be a £1bn squad versus a bunch of academy players. As long as we give it our all I will be happy.

 

I’ll be there and looking forward to it but think we are likely to get a tubbing. I hope  that I’m totally wrong and that at the very least, we put in a performance to be proud of.

[rigger]

I don't get all this if we lose with a good performance crap. I want a win, if it comes with a piss poor performance, I will still be delighted.  

[Upside Down]

3 hours ago, rigger said:

I don't get all this if we lose with a good performance crap. I want a win, if it comes with a piss poor performance, I will still be delighted.  

That's what venkys have done to us.

It wasn't that long ago that Chelsea away was just another game and we knew that if we played well we could come away with the win or a point at least.

[Mattyblue]

To be fair we had plenty of spankings down there in the 2000s… 90s another issue though.

[martonrover]

10 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I thought we fluffed quite a few golden chances against Swansea (Leonard twice, JRC / Brittain, Szmodics a few times) - there was nothing wrong with the formation.

The finishing was in keeping with the rest of the performance - flat and lacklustre.

We got what we deserved  - nowt.

[superniko]

JDT has still never lost in London. 
Keep the faith. 

[arbitro]

16 hours ago, rigger said:

You lose in the cup, you are out. You lose in the league, it can be recovered.

We missed out on the playoffs on goal difference. Another point or three would have put us there so every league point is crucial in my view.

[Guest]

The omens aren't good. But feck it, JDT has performed miracles with the resources he has at his disposal. From time to time the wheels come off and the ride gets a bit bumpy, and there is no reason to expect anything other than being dumped out of the Carabao Cup by a side that on paper has to be regarded as favourites. But it is football, JDT is a miracle worker, and if the weather is unfavourable and a bit Northern, maybe the cossetted pooches of Stamford Bridge will be rogered senseless by the mongrel dawgs of Ewood Park.

Whatever, as long as we come home with some kind of belief in ourselves, it will be a result.

COYJDT BLUES!

[G Somerset Rover]

11 hours ago, Mercer said:

Really fear for us tomorrow.

Pochettino will see this as an opportunity for his team to score some goals, win convincingly, boost confidence and ease some pressure on himself.  No surprise he's fielding a strong team.

Our threadbare squad is now beyond breaking point and you can only look at fixtures against Norwich and Preston with a deep sense of foreboding.

We are in the mire and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise 

I could have sworn it was just last the last game that you predicted us to wipe the floor with Swansea and anyone else who stood in our wake.

Edited November 1, 2023 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[K-Hod]

12 hours ago, Mercer said:

Really fear for us tomorrow.

Pochettino will see this as an opportunity for his team to score some goals, win convincingly, boost confidence and ease some pressure on himself.  No surprise he's fielding a strong team.

Our threadbare squad is now beyond breaking point and you can only look at fixtures against Norwich and Preston with a deep sense of foreboding.

We are in the mire and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise 

Sheffield Wednesday are in the mire, you’re being melodramatic, maybe even foolish, to use your own words.

[wilsdenrover]

21 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Sheffield Wednesday are in the mire, you’re being melodramatic, maybe even foolish, to use your own words.

It could be that we’re both in the more and their owner is just being more vocal about it.

[Danny O.Brien]

Not sure on the result but surely szmodics is nailed on to score? Away, in the cup and in London.

Does anybody know of anywhere local ish showing the game tonight? Do the blues bar usually announce it on the day if they're showing it? Cheers

[LeftWinger]

3 minutes ago, Danny O.Brien said:

Not sure on the result but surely szmodics is nailed on to score? Away, in the cup and in London.

Does anybody know of anywhere local ish showing the game tonight? Do the blues bar usually announce it on the day if they're showing it? Cheers

Szmodics isn't playing.

[lraC]

18 minutes ago, Danny O.Brien said:

Not sure on the result but surely szmodics is nailed on to score? Away, in the cup and in London.

Does anybody know of anywhere local ish showing the game tonight? Do the blues bar usually announce it on the day if they're showing it? Cheers

I don't think there is any coverage in the UK. It is being shown overseas, in several different countries, including Spain, where I will watch it from.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

Sheffield Wednesday are in the mire, you’re being melodramatic, maybe even foolish, to use your own words.

I dont even think he is, just purposely provocative. We are either in the mire or on the edge of something special.

[Hasta]

15 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

I think, for us, that’s a very big if 😁

We have to win the cup first. 😆

I was just actually quite surprised at the prize money on offer for the Conference League. I suppose some backwater Albanian team needs the money to afford having to travel across Europe to play their qualifying games. For footballing paupers it's worth competing in.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by Hasta