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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/22/20 in all areas

  1. Being the "better team" isn't all about how much possession, how many passes and how near you get to the opponents box. Fatal mistake thinking that. There's two sides to every game of football. Scoring goals and keeping it out at the other end. Neither is more important or better than the other. Mowbray thinks he is clever. He clearly thinks a lot about football, enjoys trying to emulate Klopp or be some sort of bargain bucket Guardiola but there's two sides to every coin. He isnt better or more clever than a manager that focuses first on defence and builds from there. It might look better particularly to the neutrals and those who attach importance to such things but it is actually meaningless. It is all about results Already this season a familiar theme has emerged. So called good performances at Bournemouth, Newcastle, Watford yet nothing to show for it. Pats on the back all round because the stats were impressive, loads of possession going nowhere, a few half chances, opposition fans and managers impressed as they collect their 3 points unscathed. Nice guys finish last. I dont want plaudits from others I want us to be hated because then you know you are getting somewhere.
    10 points
  2. My view of the game was it was a typical Rovers-Mowbray effort. Having experienced this sort of thing now for over 2 years at this level it is tiring and predictable. I had absolutely no belief or expectation we would get anything out of the game from the moment we went 1-0 down. At 2-0 it was game over and most of us knew it, deep down. The shed load of possession and nice play after that was in part afforded to us by Watford who had probably watched similar efforts from us v Cardiff and Forest and knew they could let us do it with little end product. All the possession and pressure and yet other than the penalty save and shot from outside the area Foster didn't have much to worry about in the second half. Hand on heart time - if we had made it back to 2-2 or 3-3 does anyone genuinely believe we'd have come away with a point or all 3? I don't. I reckon it is more likely they'd have applied some pressure and we'd have crumbled at the first sign of it - see Bournemouth away when we contrived to lose despite twice doing the hard part and fighting back. If your idea of enjoyment is watching us play pretty football, plenty of possession, passes, being easy on the eye, a few talented lads having a right good go then fine, enjoy away. We will get loads of plaudits in the press and from rival clubs because it goes down well with the purists who like to tune in and watch sides 'have a go'. We are also a team full of nice men. A nice bloke in the dugout who won't upset anyone, a team in his image of nice boys who all get on together and do things the "right way". Won't get promoted that way though. Ever. My idea of enjoyment is watching us get points on the board whatever way necessary, being a well drilled hard to break down and beat unit, and show some semblance of a strategy and some adaptability in our approach to deal with the opposition - just a shame that we seem no nearer to such an approach. I'd have enjoyed tonight 100x more if we had turned up, put 10 men behind the ball and ground out a 0-0 or 0-1 win playing with no ambition other than to ensure we didn't concede. That might sound crazy to some but crazy to me is turning up at a side with Watford's quality and defensive record and thinking we are going to outscore them. They've had issues scoring goals - so start from there, build from a clean sheet and frustrating them. Instead we let them in with their first venture forward with acres of room to run into, followed by defensive clangers for their 2nd and 3rd. Mowbray thinks he is above all that sort of thing though so it won't change. So instead we will lurch from one extreme to the other with no consistency. I'm tired of the ludicrous suggestion that we only conceded 3 times due to individual errors. The better teams don't make errors like that. They are coached out of it.
    10 points
  3. Don't buy all this 'we played well nonsense'. If you consistently play well and don't get results then there is a big, big problem. Played 6, lost 3, points 7, league position 14th - those are the facts that count.
    9 points
  4. There is a long way to go , but , until we develop a winning mentality it will be even longer. Successful teams are often images of their management . ...we all know who they are. ..our team isn’t successful as it too plays in the image of its management. That , I believe, is where our problem lies....and nowhere else. Mowbray is a decent bloke... but has he ever shown steel or intellect ? He says says the right things ...but does he ever do them? He has an eye for attacking talent ( not always! ) ....but does he play to their strengths? He played all of his career as a centre back...but has he ever successfully organised one as a manager ? Currently, we have “ no men , no leaders “ on the field. We have some decent levels of skill but it is unharnessed. We have players who sometimes turn up, sometimes don’t ....poor body language, little, if any collective responsibility. The deadline day signings , initially, gave me hope ....and that hope might turn to reality. ....but.... until we develop strength of character, winning mentality and steel on a consistent level .....it will remain that long season . They look miserable, they shuffle and they play without plan......as I said ....teams are images of their management. I don’t think , for one moment that Mowbray won’t try to instil the necessaries....I just think he can’t.
    8 points
  5. Lost in all the pain of losing a game we should have won, Harvey Elliott had an unremarked but impressive League game debut. This Kid is one class footballer. Midfield needs to adjust its eyelines to spot the runs he makes because apart from Holtby they were missing them last night. I know that Dack is a player you build a side around but I think Harvey will come into that category before too long. Certainly Watford were treating him with the greatest respect if you looked at the lack of space he was given to work in. Even so, look at this:
    7 points
  6. The MOM was their goalkeeper - but it was awful, apparently.
    7 points
  7. I can see 5 million reasons why unfortunately.
    7 points
  8. The fact remains we are yet to get a win against a decent team. We smashed Wycombe and Derby but the former have lost 6/6 and the latter have lost 5/6 so far this season. I can't really feel particularly optimistic until we actually start beating good teams. We couldn't break down Forest or Cardiff and Bournemouth and Watford both put three past us, even if the performances were good. There's still a lot of work to do - the new players should help but the proof is in the pudding and we haven't seen that yet.
    7 points
  9. Counts for sod all but our opponents were impressed by us: Blackburn certainly the best team we've played this season .. I thought Blackburn were good and deserved a draw. Blackburn will definitely be in the playoff picture come the end of the season .. I'd be surprised if Blackburn aren't among the playoff mix come the end of the season.. Played off the park. How the **** did we win that game ? I was impressed with the ball retention and passing of Blackburn. However, was very impressed with how comfortable Blackburn looked in possession. Armstrong was a menace all night and Holtby was very good for them. I do really hope that Blackburn are around the playoffs though a very exciting team to watch. Thought Blackburn were the better team in gameplay For the record there's plenty negative comments on there too - (mainly about how, despite the posession, we're fairly toothless up front, and how weak and vulnerable our defence is) - but I needed cheering up so went with glass half full instead.
    7 points
  10. What are centre halves made of these days ? I was just looking up Matt Woods appearance stats for the 7 seasons he played for us - he played 26 out of 26, 48/48, 43/44, 50/51, 52/52, 43/52, 47/49. Then he retired ! Matt looked like he'd been cast in a foundry, not born, and he played like it. Both of Lenihan and Williams have had several times out with injury and now Ayala's gone the same way.
    6 points
  11. For those saying mowbray is on a shaky peg unless he starts to win, I really don’t think he is. I’m also of the thinking he won’t get us anywhere but mid table and believe there to be better out there but he has his feet so far under the table here that I don’t see him going even if we were relegated. Iv long have up on that notion of him being replaced
    6 points
  12. On another day we don't miss as many chances.We created an awful lot of chances. We also won't come across a 50 million forward line many times either. Yes the result is what matters and the last few games the results have not been good enough. But it is absolutely ridiculous to be saying things like "out of the play off race already" ,"we will be closer to relegation than the top 6" etc so early in the season. We signed 4 players 6 days ago 3 of those players will be first team regulars. Against Forest we had multiple players unavailable. In spells we did look good last night.
    6 points
  13. If he is still picking Evans whilst working with the player for going on 2/3 years now in match days & in training there’s no hope for the man !! We have too many nice guys in our team even the manager ... all drips down from the Venkys ...
    6 points
  14. Kaminski JRC Lenihan Williams Douglas Holtby Trybull Johnson Elliott Armstrong Brereton
    5 points
  15. If I'd a £ for every time I've heard " we were only undone by individual errors " during Mowbray's time here I'd be a fairly rich man. Winning managers evolve systems of play that are intended to eliminate individual errors. If that doesn't work they eliminate the players that regularly make mistakes and sign players that don't. We've never defended well as a unit, we fail to sense trouble coming until it happens. We've been easy to score against for too long. The word gets around in football, just keep it tight against Rovers and wait for the inevitable mistake or series of mistakes to come along, you'll get a good scoring chance. Until that situation is rectified we're going nowhere, unless it's down the table. Coventry will have watched our games and you don't need to be a genius to figure out how to play against us.
    5 points
  16. I also hate opposition fans and/or managers praising us and our style of play and wishing us well after taking 3 points off us. Give me a post match where the opposition feels aggrieved, feels robbed, even feels cheated and lays into us but one in which we take the 3 points home with us. Also agree with Mowbrays comments about Brereton in todays LT, that he wont score 25 yarders every week and needs to anticipate the tap ins better, otherwise goals will be a rare occurance. He played well last night and I was happy for him getting a goal but he was the same in terms of often being caught on his heels instead of anticipating bits and pieces around the box.
    5 points
  17. The good managers sign and select players who make minimal mistakes and optimise opportunities. Mowbray signs them, sells them, selects them, motivates them and organises them and therefore the buck well and truly stops with him.
    5 points
  18. My biggest problem with yesterday: A few weeks ago it was said Cardiff nullified us by having a plan and doubling up on Dolan to plug that outlet. No offence intended, but in reality, Dolan is still a no-mark free transfer from a mid table Championship club. Yesterday we were up against, I assume, the most expensive winger in the League at 30 million. What was our plan to counteract this? As far as I saw, it was to play an incredibly high defensive line (pretty much halfway line), and leave Sarr 1 on 1 with the weakest member of our back 4. And repeatedly let him run at said defender.....in space.....without giving any assistance. And then everyone appeared shocked with the predictable results this tactic produced. I'm fine with Rovers adopting this high line, high press approach in general. It's exciting to watch and will help us win games over the season. But you have to adapt to your opponents, and yesterday, that tactic played right into Watford's hands.
    4 points
  19. How was it absolutely awful? Poor result and that is what matters and defensively we were bad but we won't be the only team to fail to stop Sarr and Pedro. Some of our build up play was excellent and we created numerous chances. We were not absolutely awful,don't know what game you where watching
    4 points
  20. I do agree that it’s a results business and if we’re still playing well and not getting results in another half a dozen games I will be concerned, but I think it’s too early to scrutinise results after 6 games. I remember our first season in this division after relegation and we were picking up good early results despite poor performances, but the poor performances caught up with us in the end and we ended up nearly being relegated. Look at last year, Charlton made a storming start but ended up being relegated. This fixture list can also skew the true levels of different teams - we’ve played two newly relegated teams away from home and also played 2 of the top 7 from last season. Even Derby away is not an easy fixture at all. Add to the mix that we’ve not even been able to get our best team on the pitch yet and we’ve not done too badly. Time for Douglas and Trybull to come into the team, and bring Williams back into the left side of the defence to give us more balance. A midfield three of Holtby, Johnson, and Evans is way too pedestrian to be successful. Rothwell, Trybull, and Holtby would give us what we need in there.
    4 points
  21. Lenihan own goal was a direct result of nyambe giving the ball away 30 seconds earlier! He played a 5 yard pass behind Holtby when under no pressure! Dont know if anybody noticed this, but it was criminal.
    4 points
  22. At this stage in 2018/19 Norwich were 9 points off an automatic spot and 6 points off a play off place. Was that relevant? Promoted as Champions. At this stage in 2017/18 Fulham were 7 points off an automatic spot and 3 points off a play off place. Was that relevant? Promoted via the play offs. At this stage in 2014/15 Bournemouth were 5 points off an automatic spot and 3 points off a play off place. Was that relevant? Promoted as Champions. At this stage in 2012/13 Crystal Palace were 6 points off an automatic spot and 4 points off a play off place. Rovers were top. Was that relevant? Palace promoted via the play offs, Rovers finished 17th. At this stage in 2011/12 Reading were 11 points off an automatic spot and 7 points off a play off place. They were in the relegation zone in fact. Was that relevant? Promoted as Champions. At this stage in 2009/10 Blackpool were 7 points off an automatic spot and 4 points off a play off place. Was that relevant? Promoted via the play offs. Who was top of the Premier League after 6 games in 1994/95? Newcastle. We were 4 points behind them already. Was that relevant? You don't get a trophy for being top after 6 games. It's a good job none of those sides above gave up after 6 games I guess.
    4 points
  23. It seemed to me that Lenihan played on the left of the two at the weekend with Ayala playing left last night. I don't think either of them are comfortable there at all. Maybe they can adjust but we don't really have time for that experiment. Williams is going to have to come in. The whole back four looked unsettled last night. One of the problems is caused by having Johnson and Evans together. They don't have the mobility of the likes of Travis or Trybull and the result is that Brereton ends up being criticised for failing to track all the way to his own six yard box. He is supposed to be in a front three for goodness sake! Where was Corry Evans at the time? With a more mobile midfield, I think the first two goals could have been snuffed out. Rothwell's tracking back is vastly improved this season and we are missing his energy and movement. I think with a proper centre half pairing and the return of our better players we can be very competitive indeed: Kaminski Nyambe Ayala Williams Douglas Holtby Trybull Rothwell Elliott Armstrong Brereton Probably our strongest line-up since the sensational team assembled by Bowyer some years ago. (Which he didn't have the experience /nous to get promoted).
    4 points
  24. It's all about organisation and coaching and players understanding their roles. It does not take almost four years to get this across - look at Big Sam, wherever he went, defensive issues were mitigated within days (remember his first match for us against Stoke).
    4 points
  25. I've been very critical of Mowbray at times but personally have seen an improvement in our performances to suggest we can make the playoffs. I can actually see what mowbray is trying to do now which I havent been able to at times. Forrest was very poor but we were missing too many players and the new lads. Last night we created a lot of chances vs one of the stronger sides in the league, even brereton scored (a good goal too). It's also easy to see how the players that frustrate me (johnson, evans, bell) come out of that team. You get Trybull sitting in the 3, travis back from injury, douglas at left back and on set pieces, rothwell on the left of the 3 driving forward, elliott to get a few more games under his belt. Sprinkle a bit of dack dust and we are looking alright to me. I'll be having another reassessment after 12 games.
    4 points
  26. 1st goal was BB's fault for not tracking the runner. Nyambe at fault for the 2nd for not tracking his runner. Utter shite from Lenihan for the 3rd. If you can't do the basics away from home you've no chance. Shame because we look a very mobile unit going forward and we're going to play some good stuff this season.
    4 points
  27. Positives: Cracking strike from Ben, fully deserved. Trybull twice the player of Evans, just shot up the depth chart. A midfield of Rothwell Trybull and Holtby will be the business. Douglas will be in for Saturday
    4 points
  28. Kenny's record speaks for itself. Souey's record speaks for itself. Big Sam's record speaks for itself. Mowbray, IMO, shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as those three.
    4 points
  29. Going off the first 6 games, same as last season I reckon. Lots of shit games, with a few decent games. The more vocal fans saying we're going to get into the plays offs but ending mid table. Then everyone saying oh well we'll do it next season we've got some really good players. Till the end of time.
    4 points
  30. The David Speedie derby. Play like we did Wednesday, cut out the sloppy defending, and we can be confident of a win. Coventry 1 Rovers 3
    3 points
  31. So frustrating. And doesn't help to dispell the notion that sometimes we aren't the most well prepared, professional outfit. I'll be honest, I'd never heard of Sarr before yesterday. Not popped up on my radar. But having done my research since I can see he was MOTM last December when they beat Man U 2-0 with one newspaper stating "A Sarr is born." So it was hardly a secret. And we seemed to have zero plan to deal with it.
    3 points
  32. Look at Howard Kendall's promotion team and Kenny Dalglish's Premiership-winning team. They didn't play the best football but they knew how to win football matches. Kendall's side won alot of games 1-0 IIRC, rock solid in defence and took their chances when they came. That Rovers performance last night was the opposite.... a host of missed opportunities and soft goals conceded too easily. We effectively lost the game in the first 20 mins. I don't hold out any hope for this season. Nothing has changed.
    3 points
  33. We are already 6 points off an auto promo place and 4 points off a play off place - I think that's very relevant. Said it many times, a fast start gives confidence and momentum which take you a long, long way in this league especially when it's a bang average year.
    3 points
  34. Pretty much irrelevant our league position after 6 games.
    3 points
  35. Lenihan the bloke who put a tame cross into his own net, or Holtby one of the CMs who didn't track back with Cleverley? You can't ask your FBs to play so advanced and then blame them for every goal that starts down the flanks. It's why you have 3 CMs - at least one of them is meant to cover for the FBs when they go forward.
    3 points
  36. Quite a lot of over-reactions on here as normal. Too many people seem to have extreme reactions to one result - win and we're getting promoted, lose and it's time for Mowbray to go. Worth noting that we played pretty well against a fairly expensive side. Sarr cost them around £30m - and scored twice when they hammered a Liverpool side 3-0 at home earlier this year. A side that hadn't lost a domestic league game in 14 months. There's a long way to go yet. Norwich had 5 points from their opening 6 games in 2018/19. They got 89 from their next 40 and finished 11 points above 3rd placed Leeds. I'm not saying we'll achieve that, but we should be pushing for the play-offs.
    3 points
  37. WDL is where we will continue to be. We have runs of bad form and spells of short winning runs which mean we step up and step down but it then averages out. I’m hoping we can stay in and around 7-10th to give us the sense of looking up rather than down but we cannot keep persevering with mediocrity (aka stability) and watch managers like Chris Hughton pass us by. We keep looking for players who can take us to that next level. Sooner or later we have to admit we instead need a manager who can.
    3 points
  38. We need Travis and Rothwell back and certainly Trybull in the team ASAP. Evans is Evans, half the player he is for his country (treats our games as warmups) and Johnson had two good games, one against the whipping boys, and another against his old team who he wanted to make a point to (who are in dire straits anyway) and since then he is back to what we know of him. Tbf, he works best in a midfield of Holtby and Rothwell who give the creativity and drive respectively but i'd still have Trybull in there for now until Travis gets back. Douglas needs to be in next game (should have been this one as dont buy that he is not fit seeing as he has played in the PL this season and was part of the infamous Beisla training regimes). Lenihan has gone backwards, not sure if it is being partnered up with the outspoken (on the pitch at least) Ayala or the fact both are right-footed but so far it has not worked out between them. Kaminski in the main has been OK but he has shown some weaknesses now. Elliott looked bright, intelligent and always trying to make something happen. Perhaps he tried a little too hard but I think he will be a good addition to our frontline. BB had a better game and that was a decent goal although not as fantastic as some made out. Bit of a howler from their keeper tbh. AA had another poor game. He has many of these but often pops up with a wonder goal out of nothing - which have dried up this season so far.
    3 points
  39. Bell and Evans need to sit this weekend and for the season. The lineup should be: Kaminski Nyambi Lenihan/Willaims Ayala Douglas Holtby Trybull Rothwell Dolan/Elliott Armstrong Elliott/Brereton Work Dack in once he's ready. I can't get over how bad Evans is. He offers nothing going forward.
    3 points
  40. With Dack you write his name first on a piece of paper then construct a team around him. Simple.
    3 points
  41. It’s funny how opinions can differ so much. I thought we were great in the wins against Wycombe and Derby, very poor against forest but back to a good performance tonight, frustrating as the result was. It’s never nice to lose but we played some positive, pressing football tonight, and were only undone by individual errors. To me that shows that we are moving in the right direction, and with our new LB to come in and Dack to come back I think we’ll continue to get stronger. I’m still backing us for the top 6 this season. I think this is our best chance since we were relegated into this league, as even though our squad isn’t quite as strong (no players at the level of Rhodes, Robinson or Gestede), we have a good coach and what looks like a very good team at this level if they can click. If we don’t get there I’d expect TM to come under pressure and tbh I think I’d be ready for a change if we don’t end the season round about the top 6. Talk of sacking TM now (I know you’re not calling for that) is foolish.
    3 points
  42. ...or Kean, Bowyer, Appleton, Coyle, Berg, Lambert...( anyone Venky's have ever appointed). This is the longest period in 50 plus years, when we have never been remotely in contention....
    2 points
  43. 6 goals against. Its like Mowbray was surprised they could attack. No thought to shut up shop, no defensive plan, just same as last season and the seaon before.
    2 points
  44. We also lost at Newcastle when we were " the better team ". There's a bit of a thread emerging here.
    2 points
  45. Still trying to figure out how we lost that. Also after reading comments on here I am still trying to figure out what game I watched. Why was Evans played, also ToMo's typical half time team talk makes us worse than the first half.
    2 points
  46. Well our strikers did cost so much money didn't they? Without being top though.
    2 points
  47. Incredibly tough game and one I expected to lose. They are my tip to win the league. Elliot looked very good in flashes, Trybull looked lively and made some lovely cross field passes, Holtby was class throughout, and Breo caused them problems. Our left side was so weak. Evans looks well off the pace and Bell has never been good enough. The last three games have been incredibly frustrating but there's enough there to suggest we're going to have a good season. Two of the toughest away games now out of the way in Watford and Bournemouth. Forest and Cardiff will be promotion contenders too so we've had a tough set of fixtures to start with.
    2 points
  48. Personally, didn't think we played too badly over 90 minutes. Foster was excellent for them and made crucial saves. Ultimately, at this level you can't afford to make mistakes in both boxes. An own goal and a missed penalty proved costly in the end. Despite the disappointing result there were plenty of positives in this performance for me, far more than in the two previous home games.
    2 points
  49. Nine times out of ten we win a game like that. The new players look miles better than the incumbents. Once the team settles down and the plodders are banished, I think we will have a stonking second two-thirds of the season - could be another Souey/Kenny type promotion run. Personally, I want to see JRC and Douglas as fullbacks, Evans and Johnson benched and then get Dacky in with his 15 goals. Haven't been this optimistic since Hughes.
    2 points
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