"Just a poacher" ? Not having that. Some brilliant goals in there. It's obviously gone downhill for him since he left Rovers, but he's hardly the first player that's happened to. He was superb for us.

Rhodes is ten times the finisher Armstrong is IMO.

Tyrhys Dolan's magic, He wears a magic hat, and when he saw Ewood Park, He said I'm avin that, He didn't sign for Preston, Or Burnley cuz they're shite, He signed for Blackburn Rovers, Cuz we're f**king DYNAMITE!!

Rewriting history to suit one's own narrative is a phenomenon these days in all walks of life. Alan shearer up top would've struggled to single handily drag Rovers to promotion under Bowyer there were still to many weaknesses and a bland approach to games. For the first time since Allardyce we are starting to resemble a square pegs in square holes functional team for more than the odd game. Any striker or set of forwards needs that behind them to make their contribution really count so lets hope it really is a new dawn not another flash in the plan. The last word on Rhodes is we'd have been relegated sooner without him and once he'd gone we went down despite having an all round stronger better player as his replacement. People saying he wasn't a game changer need a reality check, yes not an impact player but he dug out so many poached goals in an insipid team it kept our heads well above water for a spell despite everything else. Stick to facts not fantasy where he's concerned.

Just watched the whole game back. What a tremendous performance. We really should have scored a few more. When I think back to the games in June post lockdown when we were playing 433 but getting beat by Millwall and Wigan etc and compare to how we are playing now it's night and day. Everyone feels in the right role (no Bennett at left back, or Holtby as false nine), losing Graham and Downing allows us to press properly, and obviously Dolan is a vast upgrade compared to Gallagher or Samuel on right wing. Kaminski - is exceptional with his feet. Like a third defender, classic sweeper keeper. He retains the ball so well compared to any keeper we've had in the Championship. Looks like he could be better than Raya to me but let's see how it goes. Williams - much maligned but won everything and used the ball so well when he had it. Looks a top defender. Ayala will struggle to get in. Lenihan, JRC, Nyambe, Bell - all had decent games with very little to do. Lenihan had one exceptional block at the start of the game. Rothwell - phenomenal all-round game. Looked Premier League class. Huge engine, put his foot in, pressed relentlessly and also used the ball excellently. A complete peformance. Left side of a 433 is the perfect role for him. Could be a big season for him. Holtby - neat, keeps things moving, always provides an option. Has defence splitting passes in him, superb one for the fourth goal. Looks much better in a deeper role than in the front three. Johnson - physically dominant. Used the ball well under pressure (which has always been his weak point, but he was very composed). Two well taken goals, first was a thunderbolt. Because everybody is working their nuts off to close down his lack of mobility is not exposed. Dolan - clearly destined for the top. As obvious a first rate player as when Duff and Phil Jones first turned out. It's incredible Preston let him go. Are they on drugs? Armstrong - finishing was poor but still very dangerous. Got a good goal. Should really have got a hat trick. Brereton - I have really thought he is useless since he's been at the club. In fact I think I called him "the worst player I have ever seen for Rovers". However I am beginning to see that I was wrong about that. In the quite unusual niche of his game he is becoming very effective. He beat his full back in probably 70% of duels yesterday. Physically dominated him, outpaced him. Yes his shooting was generally poor but he did create Dolans goal off the post. Crucially he held up and layed off the ball well. Gave it away very infrequently, and won a ridiculous amount of free kicks. If he can find some shooting boots he could come good. You know what I realised - he is basically Emile Heskey.... Derby were woeful, and despite being thrashed by us in the first 15 minutes seemed to stick with the same tippy tally football where we just hounded them. Daft. I love the way our front three and midfield three swap around positions and the full backs play as wingers while the GK forms a back three with the CBs. It's total football nicked straight from Liverpool and it's actually working for us. Absolute madness. Really really looking forward to Cardiff. Same team, Nyambe for JRC who will be injured I suspect. Let's enjoy this season, it's going to be a lot of fun. Reckon when we play a decent team who like to be direct things will get tougher, but lets trust this system and players and ride it out even if we get a few poor results along the way! Oh - and huge kudos to Tony for implementing such a radical plan. And all this with Dack, Travis, Gallagher, Evans out. Wow.

Same team but Nyambe to replace the injured JRC. Rovers 6 - 0 Cardiff. Dolan (6)

Can't get my head round the stick Jordan gets and got, the lad was a shining light in what was a dismal 3 or 4 years. Plenty more things to complain about back then than a striker with a 1 in 2 goal record. The idea we'd have got promoted without him and King up top instead is the same fantasy that we'd have been promoted if Dack didn't get injured last season. Which the same people are now saying Dack doesn't get into our team.

Did you actually see King play? He was useless until the cameras turned up against Stoke and Swansea, he also refused to play when Bowyer picked him, threw his dummy out, sulked, good riddance. As for Rhodes, Mr Goals, best scoring record since Shearer, that says it all.

Colin Kazim-Richards was an underrated player for us. Think we made an error not getting him in after his loan. Think he gave us something we never really replaced back then - attitude wise.

People should just appreciate we had Rhodes playing and scoring for us, some great memories

So - any actual transfer gossip or should we rename the thread? ???

The crazy thing is Chaddy was adamant we'd have made the playoffs if Dack was available for the rest of last season

Ridiculous prediction... Armstrong will obviously score. 7-0.

I suppose I’ll take 3-0 Cant be getting greedy

Let's not rewrite history on Rhodes. If we played our current formation & style of play with him up top, he'd thrive. We're creating chances and he's the sort of player that would finish them off. For the most part while he was here he was leading the line and making the most of scraps. If anything, we didn't play to his strengths enough.

My thoughts on this special day are with his biggest supporter Mrs Desai. Not only did she loose the man who's only qualifications were apparently he works long hours and was a master at blowing smoke up her arse, but she also lost Margaret and those cosy girliy nights in, in Pune and it was also the beginning of the end for her just a like a family member Jerome. What a sad day it must be for her and her brothers. Chin up Mrs Desai, I'm sure making him rich beyond his wildest dreams is some compensation, hopefully the undeserved windfall as not made his liver suffer more.

The Huddersfield fans said the exact same thing when we bought him, coming of a 40 league goal season when they were promoted from League One. Played off Lee Novak as strike partner and lots of crosses for them I recall. Think he even scored 5 goals in one game. Exceptional finisher, with both feet and head as well. His weaknesses has been well covered but I agree with the sentiment that we should appreciate his time here. We had him at his peak, seemingly a very decent person, wish him all the best the for the future which is not back here.

Needs chances laying on a plate, never made goals himself.. ??? So many goals on there refute that nonsense he was doing what really good strikers do and getting himself on the end of things. Many of them just loose balls. Time to put this one to bed, he was top drawer for us and over 4 years worth the transfer fee in goals returned. Not many big money buys you can say that about.

Watching Kaminski, it immediately becomes apparent what Mowbray was alluding to with these comments about Walton (https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18595996.mowbray-loanee-rovers-search-new-keeper/) “I think he’s been trying really hard all year to change a few core fundamentals that he has that I would like to change so he can play the way I would like him to play. “It’s not easy to change footballers, particularly goalkeepers where I’m not the expert, yet I watch as much football as anyone and know where the goalkeeping fraternity is going, I know how a modern goalkeeper is going to look and looks now, and how the world’s best are operating. “You should try and achieve that, and I’ve said to Christian that if he thinks he’s going to play for Brighton in the Premier League, the way they play then he has some fundamentals he needs to change." Mowbray's politely not getting into specifics, and he's not espousing anything revolutionary, but Kaminski's ability to comfortably play up high and be a passing option for the CBs is where Kaminski most obviously differs from Walton, and thus what Mowbray was looking for as a long-term option (a 'modern' goalkeeper). Kaminski just looks so comfortable with the ball every time it comes back to him (while not lackadaisical either) It always felt like an adventure/hold your breath moment when it went back to Walton (or Kean, Steele, Eastwood, etc. Raya was decent with the ball, but was obviously still learning and prone to a 'youthful' mistake). I don't recall Walton making any egregious kicking/ball handling mistakes that immediately led to a goal (I'm sure someone can remind me ?), but the best hope was that he'd simply boot it somewhere downfield, and we then likely lose possession. (As an aside, just my opinion, but I think Walton's ultimately a middling/below-average Championship keeper. Not bad as football careers go. His up-and-down form obviously drove us nuts - funny coming back from lockdown that I was thinking he was quite solid after a great run before lockdown, and then his post-lockdown play was, uh,... One of my pet theories is there are only 2-3 clubs in the world where fans are universally happy with their keeper haha) I recall Kaminski made some howler with the ball just before Ghent sold him, hence their fans were on his back. Bound to happen here eventually, so let's just hope we can recognise if the good is ultimately outweighing the bad! (Hence, how do we properly measure that nebulous 'lost us points' metric that's often bandied about haha...)

So here's a a thought. Most, including me, was worried about how we lost Tosins quality passing from the back. It looks to me like we've replaced it with the goal keeper. Inspired. Played quite a few really smart Tosin-esque midfield splitting balls against Derby. I think he's going to be a fantastic player for us.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Sheff United sign Adarabiyo tbh.

12/13 - 27 goals 13/14 - 25 goals 14/15 - 21 goals Aye, bag of shite.

Over 120 goals conceded in our 2 nearly years. 4 keepers sharing the games (including a past it Robbo, Raya who was just a kid, Eastwood and Jake Kean) and massively unsettled defence. We must have played over 10 different CB partnerships in those 2 years. Between Duffy, Kilgallon, Hanley, Spurr, Baptiste, Keane and Dann. That's before you even mention the plethora of different fullbacks we played as well. And thinking about it, I couldn't even hazard a guess at what our first choice back 4 was either year. Or even CB pairing. Or keeper. It was all over the place back there.

We had one season where Rhodes AND Gestede scored 20+ league goals EACH. Don’t even dare say those two had any bearing on us not finishing in the top six!

What I liked about Rhodes was he rarely blasted the ball, he just gave it enough to get it to the back of the net. He went for placement and accuracy rather than power. He had as cool as head in front of goal as I've seen from a striker. Very unflappable and calm, he never got over excited with a chance. What let him down was he wasn't blessed with any sort of pace and he wasn't physical. If you ever went on the Boro site or the Sheff Wed site the critics were saying exactly the same of his time there.

It is one of the best days of my life Kean out day- I was that happy.

I thought so too but I don't think he ever reached the heights he should have done. He was like a fast Sonny Liston to look at but he never really made the most of his physique. I suspect he wasn't mean enough as a person.

Signed today confirmed - https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2020/september/rovers-snap-up-highly-rated-goddard/ No idea who he is.

He was that good, he is well past his peak now, but at his peak, he was a brilliant and seemingly underappreciated Championship striker.

If I’m not mistaken it’s Kean out day today. As much as Mowbray frustrates the hell out of me sometimes it’s not a patch on those days. If it is Kean out day merry Kean out day or is it happy Kean out day.

Only a couple of months later from that interview Bill died. Such a shame he never got to see the journey we were about to go on.

As soon as I saw Bill Fox I expected him to say "You're a big man but you're in bad shape. With me it's a full time job. Now behave yourself". ???

An absolutely exceptional finisher. That said I really didn't like his all-round game. Ball didn't stick to him, couldn't run in behind, didn't link up, lost all his physical battles. There's a reason he has never played at a higher level and struggled to get into midtable Wednesday and Middlesbrough teams despite his incredible goal scoring record.

Early days yet obviously, but I'm liking what I see. His distribution is exceptional and definitely gives us an extra body when playing out from the back. As others have said, a number of his passes through to midfield, avoiding the press, were very Tosin-esque. He does seem a little unorthodox, but hey, as long as he keeps it out of the onion bag, who cares! I actually think he's a bit more astute than we're giving him credit for. The one that hit his chest from Rooney's free kick was, imo, very good positioning. It was one of those where you don't know if someone will get a touch or it'll just curl into the bottom corner, so he actually positioned himself to give himself the best chance to cover either. No-one got a touch, so it hit his chest. If there was a touch, he was poised to go to his right to make the save. Again, the header from their left back towards the end (Buchannan was it? who incidentally shouldn't have been on the pitch after his lunge at Dolan), watch the replay from the camera facing the goal, his eyes are fixed on the attacker the moment he knows it's going over the defender's head and his positioning was bang on. As I said, early days, but quietly impressed at the moment.

Same team except Nyambe for JRC. Cardiff is a different challenge for us. They've got out and out wingers in Ojo and Hoilett so our full backs will be in for a tough day but suspect they will be more than up to the challenge. There's not really anybody that worries me as I think Lenihan and Williams can handle Moore between them. Predicting a 3-1 win With any luck Brereton to get on the score sheet. He has done everything but score this season and deserves his reward. Feels strange already looking forward to a game.....optimism well and truly back.

It's true though right? Big, can't head, likes playing on the wing, falls over his feet, can't shoot but batters his way through. Once you see it you can't unsee it.

Theres more than one way to skin a cat. Rhodes throughout his time here was performing at a level worthy of challenging for promotion. It was the rest of the team and the manager that stopped us.

How anyone can suggest that he shouldnt have played is incredible too. He was scoring 20 plus goals every season, he was the strength of the team, not the weakness.

Rhodes had his most prolific season playing in his first season in a 4-4-1-1, with either Gomes, Kazim Richards, Dunn and Rochina playing as number 10s, and then towards the end of that season, in a 4-3-3/4-5-1. He got 28 league goals. He consistently scored goals for us regardless of the style played (including when we went direct to suit Gestede) the formation played or the players around him.

On a side note that may be the worst montage music for a football highlights package I've ever heard... not withstanding it doesn't even kick in for 20 seconds. ?

I think we need a sense of perspective in this Rhodes v Armstrong exchange. Rhodes signed for Rovers for a record non-Premier League UK fee with 99 goals already scored. He was only a few months younger than Arma is now when he joined Rovers. Rhodes rattled in 85 goals in 169 appearances for Rovers in just 3.5 seasons. It is quite amazing that he has since he left he has only managed another 26 goals in 121 appearances over 4.5 seasons. Jordan is still only 30 years old! Looking at Adam, I find it astonishing he made 21 appearances over 5 seasons for Newcastle and scored 0. For Rovers, Armstrong has now scored 41 goals in 122 appearances for Rovers and his career total is now 71 goals in 241 appearances. There is plenty of time for Arma to get the equal of Rhodes for Rovers although he has to go some to match Rhodes goal per game ratio. Having said that, if Arma keeps this season's 6 in 5 ratio going, he will have 98 goals for Rovers when he gets to equal Rhodes' 169 appearances and Rovers will be comfortably mid-table in the Premier League around Christmas 2021!

Why did he play CM and CB as well? because they were the problems areas, not up front.

I don't think I have looked forward to a game so much in years. This should be an absolute cracker. Same team with Nyambe in for injured JRC. Cardiff are a relatively direct team who will play it long into Moore and will use Hoilett's and Ojo's pace down the flanks. Basically they are a very good test to the weaknesses of our system. If we can pull another top performance out I will really start believing something special is on the cards. But I do think it's going to be much much busier for our back four. Expecting something like a 2-2 draw.

Johnson is poor at taking the ball on the half turn from the defence, last season he was always good for losing the ball at least once a game. The tactics at the moment seem to not expect him to do that which is ideal.

That's like saying Shearer limited how we could play. The fact we had a 25 goal a season man had nothing to do with us missing out on the play-offs. That's a bizarre statement. We missed out because we conceded too many goals and drew too many games. Nowt to do with Rhodes.

Send them Charlie’s highlights videos quickly ......

I saw someone on the Derby forum said we've copied Leeds and are now playing like Leeds, and I think there is a lot of truth to it. The biggest thing for me is that the new system works very well with the players we have. The front 3 and the midfield works very hard out of possesion and closes down in packs. Neither Newcastle or Derby could get out of their own half. Wycombe tried the direct route but the defence gobbled up everything and kept the pressure up. Johnson is very good at dropping back when the full-backs are attacking, in addition he is great in the air and a physical presence. Attacking wise is such a difference because all 3 front have pace and can go past a player. If the opposition go forward, we can hit them on the break. Rothwell and Holtby has certainly benefited from their new roles. Rothwell has a great engine, and his bursting runs from central creates unbalance in their defensive lines and opens up the forward, e.g first goal Yesterday. Holtby is much fitter and a wonderful footballer who can keep the ball and create chances with his passing. Also very impressed with his defensive contribution, no cheating there. Also special mentioning to Williams, who might've been our best player so far, certainly in defence. Not worried about Dack fitting in. He's just a quality footballer who can easily play in different positions. I think he will come back in a more fit version and fight his way into the team. One thing I'm sure of, we shouldn't adapt the system to fit Dack. What we see now is we are getting the most of the sum of parts, rather than optimizing for the best part.

Should probably have a look at his youth team.

We are seeing what ‘time’ can mean. ’He needs time’ is that oft repeated phrase, but it’s a tricky balance for clubs at our level. Three and a half years for Owen Coyle and we’d be still playing derbies with Bolton. Three and a half years for TM and we are seeing a playing culture transformed, players and styles phased out whilst evolved methods bed in. Yet, many (not just on here) were turning fast less than a year ago as we laboured against Barnsley - why? Because another relegation wasn’t out of the question if we’d had carried on with that trajectory and League 1 for a second time in 3 years could’ve proved terminal for this club (especially now). The very strange set up at Blackburn Rovers has allowed TM the time and freedom that just doesn’t exist elsewhere in this crackpot league and, early days though it is, I‘ve seem nothing else in the division that says we can’t be up there. Dips will come, especially with a young squad, injuries never seem too far away here, but there’s something stirring (and don’t we all deserve to witness it - well ifollow it). All power to you Mogga.

It's simple as this for me, as an old left back, who would I prefer to against - Dolan or Gallagher ? With Dolan he dribbles at real pace, knows when to stick and when to twist, bags of energy, always looking to get into the game. You'd never have a minute's break. With Gallagher he's going to have an advantage in the air so you'd be relying on team mates to cut down crosses in his direction. After that, out wide he's not much of a threat as long as you don't do anything silly, like giving him too much room and letting him get a run at you. After turning his back on real attacking wingers for all the time he's been at Ewood ( Conway was played more as a defensive player and Chapman hardly played ) Mowbray appears to have found one down the back of the sofa. At least one winger is getting a game now. I only see Gallagher as a back up for Armstrong at the moment. On another point although Armstrong was quiet for most of the game the way he put that chance away so emphatically speaks of a player who's confidence is sky high. Regarding Johnson's goals, our midfield have been shot shy for too long. How often do you see a speculative shot into a crowded penalty area take an unstoppable deflection like his second goal. Let's have more of it lads.