v Leicester City (a) - 1/11/25

[Torgeir]

Top drawer stuff that second goal. Amazing.

Deserved win, Toth kept us in the game when he had to with one of the saves of the season. Hope we can gain some momentum now.

[RoyWegerlesLeftToe]

51 minutes ago, superniko said:

If I was to be negative about anything, which feels harsh after that performance, then I’d say I’m not fully convinced about McLoughlin, Gardner-Hickman or Morishita.

Toth, Wharton, Alebiosu all immense. De Neve and Miller good, Montgomery putting in some very good cameos in the middle, Ohashi non-stop and Gudjohnson can find the net. 

If Baradji is a hit, Cantwell comes back in form and we can improve where weneed inn January (which we never do) then I’ll start to think we’ve got a team that can develop into something here.

 

 

I thought Morishita had a better game today which was pleasing to see. McLoughlin was solid today and Gardner hickman did his job.

[RoyWegerlesLeftToe]

On FlashScore Toth got a 6.5 today. Were they watching a completely different game???? 

Edited yesterday at 18:06 by RoyWegerlesLeftToe

[chaddyrovers]

We made Leicester look poor today. But they are hardly ripping this league apart either. They need to few new signings and give that side a freshen 

[RoyWegerlesLeftToe]

My favourite bit today was the millar tackle at the end to keep a clean sheet. Clearly they care.  

[Songman]

One things for sure.

It's nice to already be 3 points better off this week than I expected to be, heading into the Derby game 😃 

[DE.]

Based on Leicester's recent form and performances I thought we could get a point here. Didn't expect a win and a clean sheet, though. Three unexpected but potentially vital points to bank in the survival fund. 

[joey_big_nose]

Interesting to see us really commit to two proper forwards up top.

Not suggesting its in anyway connected to them both being back at Ewood in various capacities, but I think last time we played with two centre forwards was Gestede and Rhodes?

Its refreshing after years of one striker and a number 10 playing off them.

[Commondore]

1 hour ago, Herbie6590 said:

De Neve going forward looks fine but in front of McLoughlin to cover the LHS defensively less so. Not helped by TGH who I thought was poor today. 
 

Henriksson currently gets a yellow every 2.8 games. That well known calming influence Lewis Travis went for 1 every 4 with Rovers by comparison. I think Henriksson is finding the pace a bit too much at the moment. 
 

As for Mak - that cameo demonstrated exactly why he shouldn’t be anywhere near the starting XI IMO. He’s simply a ball of chaos. 

Henriksson picked up lots of yellows in Sweden as well, that’s always been a weak part of his game. I’m still partial to his player type and I think he’s showing signs of improvement, he was involved in the buildup for the first goals both today and against Soton. Whether he plays for us when everyone are available I think will depend on what formation we use, but I do see him being of use to us throughout the season.

[Exiled_Rover]

41 minutes ago, Torgeir said:

Top drawer stuff that second goal. Amazing.

Deserved win, Toth kept us in the game when he had to with one of the saves of the season. Hope we can gain some momentum now.

He's made three sensational saves in the last two games.

 

[B16Rover]

11 minutes ago, Commondore said:

Henriksson picked up lots of yellows in Sweden as well, that’s always been a weak part of his game. I’m still partial to his player type and I think he’s showing signs of improvement, he was involved in the buildup for the first goals both today and against Soton. Whether he plays for us when everyone are available I think will depend on what formation we use, but I do see him being of use to us throughout the season.

The Halingden Haaland is like an 18 month old puppy.  Suddenly in a physical body without the nouse to quite use it yet.  Unfortunately we may have to bite the towel for 3 months whilst he gets up to speed, but once he does he's got the attitude and physicality to be a decent to good championship player 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

A great win, one that I didn’t really see coming.  In the second half there was only one team that looked like winning and if we’d have been more clinical it could easily been 3 or 4.

Toth 8, kept us in the game with a wonder save at a critical time. His distribution wasn’t great at times, but your keeper is there to keep the ball out of net, and that’s what he does.

Alebioso 8,  what a find this lad has been. Like Stanley Mathews everybody knows he’s going to go on the outside but he still managed to  pull it off. Grand run for the second goal.

Miller 7, he put in a wholehearted and committed performance. Typical Aussie.

Wharton 8, I thought he led by example today. A good captains performance.

McClouglin 7, he had some scares but on the whole I thought he did ok.

DeNeve 7, I was surprised to see him subbed but Leicester were getting a lot of joy down the right wing in the first half. Not altogether his fault but when Hedges came on in the second half things tightened up

Tronstad 7, still not back to his best on the ball but he’s pretty tireless out of possession.

Gardener-Hickman 6, just a busy player. He spurned a golden chance in the second half. He made a really good late run, pointed to where he wanted the pass to be played, the Rovers player puts it on a plate exactly where he was pointing, and he puts it row Z. On his weaker foot apparently, really ?

Henrikson -5, the lad isn’t playing with a full deck. Two bad fouls for no good reason in our opponents half ! He’s a walking yellow card. I wouldn’t start him ever again, he’s too much of a risk.

Ohashi -7, never stopped running throughout the game. A real pest to play against and he takes some of the weight off Gudjohnsen.

Gudjohnsen- 8, what can you say ? Sometimes he looks like a fish riding a bike. That too weak pass out to Ohashi that nearly got Ohashi flattened is a classic example. However, like a good poacher, he gambled on a mistake for his first goal, he was ready and on his toes to flick that ball home. Sam Gallagher would have just watched it happen. For the second goal he made just the right run at just the right time to be in just the right place to wallop the ball into the roof of the net. You can’t knock it.

Subs

Hedges 7, tightened up that left hand side by staying back a bit more.

Montgomery 7, kept busy when he came on. We needed a bit more energy at that time and he provided it.

Morishita 7 , I thought he played ok without pulling up any trees. A better bet than Henriksson.

Forshaw N/A. Not on long enough to give a score.

Guueye N/A the lad never gets the benefit of the doubt from the officials. He was within an ace of scoring the daftest goal I’ve seen in a long while.

Ismael 8, got most things right apart from starting with Henriksson.

When Rovers win away and the dingles lose at home what could be better. Shame about England in the Rugby League but you can’t have everything !

Edited yesterday at 18:55 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Parsonblue]

Another really enjoyable away performance.  Days like today are why so many of us spend our time travelling up and down motorways - to witness a really accomplished performance like this one.

In fairness, we've looked good in a number of games but haven't been able to make it count in terms of goals.  Today we looked dangerous going forward and defensively we looked fairly solid and Toth made an outstanding save to keep us ahead.

The back three are starting to combine well and the wing backs look a constant threat going forward, although I thought we left ourselves exposed down the flanks in the early stages.  I thought Hickman and Tronstad worked hard in midfield, as did Montgomery when he came on.

Up front, Yuki works non-stop and never gives the defenders any rest.  He's an intelligent player and hopefully his partnership with Gudjohnson will continue to produce goals.

Tuesday will be a tough one, always is at Ashton Gate, but I most admit that I'll be making that journey far more hopeful after today.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

4 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

Another really enjoyable away performance.  Days like today are why so many of us spend our time travelling up and down motorways - to witness a really accomplished performance like this one.

In fairness, we've looked good in a number of games but haven't been able to make it count in terms of goals.  Today we looked dangerous going forward and defensively we looked fairly solid and Toth made an outstanding save to keep us ahead.

The back three are starting to combine well and the wing backs look a constant threat going forward, although I thought we left ourselves exposed down the flanks in the early stages.  I thought Hickman and Tronstad worked hard in midfield, as did Montgomery when he came on.

Up front, Yuki works non-stop and never gives the defenders any rest.  He's an intelligent player and hopefully his partnership with Gudjohnson will continue to produce goals.

Tuesday will be a tough one, always is at Ashton Gate, but I most admit that I'll be making that journey far more hopeful after today.

Play like we did today and we’ll give them a game.

[Eternal Optimist]

It’s great to have a striker who instinctively hangs around the six yard box like Gudjohnsen does, evident with his two goals today, feel this is something we’ve lacked for a good few years. Some of his football ability might be questionable but it matters none as long as he continues to be in the right place at the right time to slam that ball into the net.

Also pleasant to see that when we attack we are getting 4/5 players into the box. For far too long now we have seemingly attacked with just one player in the box to hit. Good signs but still a way to go especially with our possession skills ☺️

Edited yesterday at 19:59 by Eternal Optimist

[Tomphil2]

Great effort and fully deserved win well done to the squad, staff and fans.

I wouldn't say we can beat anybody on our day but if someone has a bad one and we turn up we'll find them out whoever they are.

Classic Championship stuff.

[arbitro]

The last two visits to Leicester ended with unbridled joy having played the best football for years in an FA Cup win and also staying up in the last game of the season. Whilst today wasn't at those levels it ran them close.

Today was a proper team performance when every player played a significant part and contributed to the win against a team who, on paper are the best in the Championship. We were at it from the first whistle playing at the highest level of intensity of the season and for me this was key. The press was excellent not just from the front players but the midfield too. We passed the ball as well as we have for a while and defended as if our lives depended on it.

In general the decision making of the players was good too. The movement of Ohashi and Gudjohnsen really troubled Leicester as they popped up in positions across the width of the pitch. The midfield snapped into challenges and didn't allow Leicester to get their passing game going. 

The cornerstone of the win though was, for me the rock solid defence who yielded very little in open play (although Vestergaard did have a couple of free headers from their first two corners). And behind them was Toth who has excelled since he was given his chance. Although I was a long way from the save he made in the second half it looked world class.

Ismael and his staff got it right today too and they deserves credit for the win too.

The travelling fans once again deserve praise too. The new song for Kristi Montgomery really got going and I'm sure helped the players get the win over the line.

[Neal]

Alebiosu should be playing above this level. His career from coming through at Arsenal hasn't exactly gone as he would have hoped but he's showing why he came through there. People kept laughing when I said he looked an upgrade to Brittain, he just simply is. Bigger, stronger, quicker and a better crosser aswell. Biggest bargain we've found in a while. Fair play to the recruitment for finding him. 

[jim mk2]

It's a long time since I've enjoyed such an away win...... in fact probably the last time at the Kingpower!

Some observations

Leicester were woeful overall and I can't see the manager lasting long. Their fans were virtually silent through the whole game. Having said that they could / should have scored 2 in the first half with better crosses and finishing. The save by Toth was one of the best I've seen by a Rovers goalie

The Icelandic lad has a nose for goal and I think he's going to score alot of goals for us. However he needs extra work in the afternoons on the training ground working on playing with his back to goal and link-up play. Is Danny Graham around to do some coaching?

Dare I say it but the right back is probably an upgrade on Brittain? I wish Brittain were still here but the new lad offers so much more and is a better defender too.

Other standouts were Wharton, who was a rock in defence ( I just hope he stays fit), the goalkeeper, who never put a foot wrong, and the manager, who got his subs and tactics just right

On the downside, Henriksson (sp?) and Gardner struggled for me and gave the ball away far too often and McLoughlin is not a left back. Their number 7 gave him a torrid first half. 

De Neve is an odd one, physically he looks and runs like an amateur playing in the professional game but was surprisngly effective going forward. He was unlucky to be subbed but bringing on Hedges to nullify the No 7 was the right decision

Great day, and credit to the fans too, who never stopped singing. Just like being in a German league ground. As for Leicester, who cares? We know what it's like to go home depressed after a miserable home performance

 

 

[Torgeir]

1 hour ago, B16Rover said:

The Halingden Haaland is like an 18 month old puppy.  Suddenly in a physical body without the nouse to quite use it yet.  Unfortunately we may have to bite the towel for 3 months whilst he gets up to speed, but once he does he's got the attitude and physicality to be a decent to good championship player 

Henriksson is fan favourite material, just needs to tone down his aggression a tad to avoid getting booked so early. I see him as a type of player that once he starts scoring he will bang in quite a few - I predicted a goal and a yellow from him today, unfortunately only the latter I was 100% sure about 😄 

[Bbrovers2288]

2 minutes ago, Torgeir said:

Henriksson is fan favourite material, just needs to tone down his aggression a tad to avoid getting booked so early. I see him as a type of player that once he starts scoring he will bang in quite a few - I predicted a goal and a yellow from him today, unfortunately only the latter I was 100% sure about 😄 

Not convinced at all with that assessment , headless chicken comes to mind for me , I haven’t seen anything positive so far

[KentExile]

Just now, Bbrovers2288 said:

Not convinced at all with that assessment , headless chicken comes to mind for me , I haven’t seen anything positive so far

Are you not placing much hope on him having an improvement in his second season to rival that of Szmodics? 😉 

[Torgeir]

6 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Not convinced at all with that assessment , headless chicken comes to mind for me , I haven’t seen anything positive so far

He's said as much himself, that he's not the best footballer but I think if he learns not to be stupid aggressive, and gets used to the league, he'll be a useful squad player. We'll see...

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

49 minutes ago, Neal said:

Alebiosu should be playing above this level. His career from coming through at Arsenal hasn't exactly gone as he would have hoped but he's showing why he came through there. People kept laughing when I said he looked an upgrade to Brittain, he just simply is. Bigger, stronger, quicker and a better crosser aswell. Biggest bargain we've found in a while. Fair play to the recruitment for finding him. 

I wouldn’t say he has a better crosser than Brittain. That was the real strong point in Brittain’s game. However Alebioso is better in every other regard. Could you see Brittain having the pace and strength to create our second goal ?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

15 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Not convinced at all with that assessment , headless chicken comes to mind for me , I haven’t seen anything positive so far

“ Dog chasing a crisp packet across a pub car park on a windy day “ comes to mind.