v Charlton Athletic (h) - 4/1/26

[joey_big_nose]

1 hour ago, Parsonblue said:

Couldn't agree more with all of this.  I particularly think your last point is hugely relevant.   Having blank weekends for internationals is a ridiculous state of affairs.  When a club like City is having to fill its bench with kids because of long term injuries there is little hope for the rest of us.  It seems internationals and European Competitions have become far more important that the bread and butter of League football.  The F.A. Cup has already been ruined by this approach and it seems a number of clubs are paying the price of long term injuries because the league programme is being squeezed due to these blank weekends.

Probably the Championship needs to go down to 20 teams... not a fan of that idea at the moment though as Rovers risk of league one would massively increase.

[MarkBRFC]

5 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Probably the Championship needs to go down to 20 teams... not a fan of that idea at the moment though as Rovers risk of league one would massively increase.

I've thought this for a while to be honest.

With the top end of the National League having some decent sized clubs for that kind of level, shouldn't we be looking at 5 professional leagues now with 20 in each?

A 46 game league season I think is too much for the modern game.

[Kjell]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Having to condense 46 games into shorter and shorter periods of time because of international breaks is causing major problems for us and other teams.

Yet we find ourselves in 20th position, and 19 other teams are above us despite having the same number of international breaks.

[bluebruce]

14 hours ago, philipl said:

Incidentally I expect Toth tips the header over rather than let it rebound for a tap in as Pears did. Hopefully Toth is back in the FA Cup at Hull then keeps his place.

This did cross my mind at the time too. I can't say he definitely would have, but it's in his wheelhouse. I'm not blaming Pears for that goal to be clear, it's just that Toth is a better keeper and would occasionally get to things that Pears can't.

[bluebruce]

4 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’ve been watching a long time just like you have and this injury crisis is unprecedented. Back in the day if you had 2 or 3 players out it was an injury crisis, now we have half the team missing for one reason or another. Not only that but you have players who would normally be ok for 15 to 20 minutes off the bench having to start games.This means you have nobody of any real experience on the bench that can come on and make a difference.

Having to condense 46 games into shorter and shorter periods of time because of international breaks is causing major problems for us and other teams.

I think the issue that makes this unprecedented for us isn't necessarily the number of injuries (although that has been quite high) it's the way they've all happened at the same time, and often in the same or understocked areas. Earlier in the season we actually had barely anyone out for a while. Then it has just compiled. I think part of the issue is not rotating enough, and now we have so many senior players out it's hard to rotate without risking points, which compounds the problem as people are having to play too much.

[Herbie6590]

The BRFCS Player of the Match in association with SUITS ME - the official Rovers debit card provider - is Moussa Baradji...⚪🔵

 

[Hasta]

5 hours ago, bluebruce said:

This did cross my mind at the time too. I can't say he definitely would have, but it's in his wheelhouse. I'm not blaming Pears for that goal to be clear, it's just that Toth is a better keeper and would occasionally get to things that Pears can't.

I thought the same with the Rathbone strike for Wrexham but didn’t want to say as it sounds like I’m blaming Pears as though it’s a mistake. It’s not, it’s just that better keepers can more regularly pull of what you don’t expect of them.

[RevidgeBlue]

9 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Having to condense 46 games into shorter and shorter periods of time because of international breaks is causing major problems for us and other teams.

Sorry, I think that's absolute nonsense, the schedule is the same for everyone and all Clubs get injuries.

The problem we've had has been with the planned downgrading of the squad in summer and the abysmal recruitment to replace those that left.

 

Edited Monday at 19:16 by RevidgeBlue

[RevidgeBlue]

45 minutes ago, Hasta said:

I thought the same with the Rathbone strike for Wrexham but didn’t want to say as it sounds like I’m blaming Pears as though it’s a mistake. It’s not, it’s just that better keepers can more regularly pull of what you don’t expect of them.

Don't agree. No-one is getting anywhere near that Rathbone strike.

Pears performed really well after coming in until being badly at fault for the first against Wrexham so as such he should now lose his place again.

Suppose some of it depends on whether one of them is being sold this window. Out of the two I'd expect it to be Pears as he'll probably be on a slightly higher wage.

 

[aletheia]

Think we've all got the message from the 'aligned' wherever they may be:

loans are now acceptable

situation is nothing to do with us, just injuries

it's the fault of the EFL/Premier League etc for having too many teams and too many games

[JPTSwindon]

21 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

Probably the Championship needs to go down to 20 teams... not a fan of that idea at the moment though as Rovers risk of league one would massively increase.

I also think we they could better spread the fixtures out - so a few extra midweek games at the start of the season (when the weather is warm, light evenings etc), so there is less of a stockpile at the moment.

[joey_big_nose]

15 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Sorry, I think that's absolute nonsense, the schedule is the same for everyone and all Clubs get injuries.

The problem we've had has been with the planned downgrading of the squad in summer and the abysmal recruitment to replace those that left.

 

I don't think Tyrone was saying it's a reason that we have been exceptionally impacted, it's that every club is suffering and the quality of the games is as a result getting worse because there are so many players out with injuries. I agree with that.

Anyway - thinking about it as virtually every club in the Championship is losing money hand over fist it's unlikely anyone is going to vote to lose 17% of their matches (8 of 48 games) and all the associated income (gate, TV, food) to go down to 20 teams.

Edited yesterday at 10:33 by joey_big_nose

[Tomphil2]

15 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Don't agree. No-one is getting anywhere near that Rathbone strike.

Pears performed really well after coming in until being badly at fault for the first against Wrexham so as such he should now lose his place again.

Suppose some of it depends on whether one of them is being sold this window. Out of the two I'd expect it to be Pears as he'll probably be on a slightly higher wage.

 

Pears positioning and his awareness have always been an issue and something hes failed to improve on.

Multiple examples of this particular weakness over the last few years but agree on the second goal. A superb strike aided by utterly crap defending and to be fair if he tips that over it's save of the season stuff.

[Hasta]

As I said, it comes across as a criticism when most times it beats a keeper. I didnt mention it the time as it beats Toth as well. It's certainly not a "Toth might have saved that" comment. But it's not unsaveable. I just think his hands are quite low and the ball goes past him centrally not far from his head. It doesn't fly into the inside side netting or top corner. He's just beaten by surprise and power, but it is saveable.

But as I say I'm not digging him out because, Wrexham's first goal aside, he's hardly put a foot wrong. Not making regular mistakes is what I would expect from most keepers at this level. What makes certain keepers better than others is awareness, dealing with crosses and the regularity they pull off saves you don't expect them to make (see Raya, Friedel)

[Tomphil2]

Yes Pears to date has certainly ironed out the stupid mistakes and he deserves credit for that you can't question the lads character.

It's a shame he can't improve the weaknesses but unfortunately as with many others at this level they have default settings that can't be removed.