12 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Can you point to me specific quotes which show toys being thrown, suggestions that the manager cant win or that expectations are stupidly high?

This one?! 😁

He had a good game, looks strong, quick, versatile, and is quite a unit. Arguably it's allowed us to push JRC forwards so he can be more effective offensively, as proven yesterday. 

As for his long throw, just because you can doesn't mean you should... it's quite slow & loopy as opposed to fast & flat (which defenders really hate), but at least it's another tool in the armoury if push comes to shove!!

11 minutes ago, lraC said:

Absolutely right with that. He could so easily have miss controlled the header away from Carter, but he did well. Great vision whether it’s a 10 yard pass or not. 

Yup. The rest of the team really understood how good it was, eg if you look at Brittain he runs to congratulate JRC but as he does so he looks and points to Dolan in appreciation of the architecture of the chance. 

12 hours ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Carter did well but yet again he always has that donkey moment in every game…He gave the ball away in dangerous position which could have led to them getting back into it…Will be a player that goes next season 10m+ add ons should do the trick…Unpopular opinion, he’s easily replaceable and we probably only need to spend 1m of that fee to get someone just as good.

 

He's easily replaceable for £1m yet we should be getting £10m + add ons for selling him?? That makes no sense whatsoever!

Yes he does have the odd mistake or rash judgment in him, don't they all?? He's turned into a top defender at this level; big, strong, confident on the ball, reads the game well, positions himself well off the ball. There's room for improvement as he matures as a player, which will come as he gets older.

Poor game overall but think we shaded it.

Credit to the ref & lino for giving the offside. Not an easy one to see, but the replay shows their guy (who's a proper unit) behind our last defender & in front Leo when the ball is headed at goal. Also to their manager for fronting up about it afterwards. It was bad defending from us to allow the header, probably the only proper defensive mistake we made all match bar some stray passing around.

Back 5 were generally solid, Hyam & Carter were solid, great save when needed from Leo, & Trondstad gave them great protection & used the ball well, looks handy, puts himself about & tough to dispossess.

Attacking wise we were poor 1st half, no-one clocked, no fluidity.  I said a few times no one was making runs to break the lines; Siggy isn't quick, SS had an off game, & playing JRC & Brittain further forward meant we lost their ability to surge forward from deep undetected. Thankfully JRC provided that 2nd half, & should've got two.

Overall a good win after a 2 week break  to start this next tranche of matches, Cardiff will be tough to be for most this season. Back it up with another win on Tuesday & we'll be right back in the playoff mix.

7 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Overstating it somewhat for a simple 10 yard pass between 2 defenders. The timing of Rankin Costello’s run deserved more praise and made the pass possible. 

Can't agree with the first sentence, though do agree with the second.

Before the pass came the take, it wasn't an easy looping header to take down with his chest, back to goal with defenders around. Then he looked up, saw the run, swivelled & played a lovely weighted 20 yard forward pass that took out 3 central defenders.

In a match of rather low offensive quality overall it was quite a superb piece of play & consisted of everything that his detractors say he can't do (i.e. control & hold the ball up in tight positions, look around for options & execute composed end product). He has the raw talent & ability, he needs the consistency; this last few games he's started to find some.

35 minutes ago, roverandout said:

I missed my dad's passing as I had spent 18 hours with him then went home to have a shower.  Got the message he hadpassed.  I'm glad I was there for my mum. Sorry for your loss

Wow, parents know how to pull our strings sometimes don't they?!

Be strong. You can always come on here if you need cheering up... 🤔

2 hours ago, roverandout said:

Thanks atko

I lost my mum nearly 3 years ago, having barely seen her for a year prior due to covid. She had dementia so had no idea who we were by then. 

I missed her passing moment; we'd been allowed to be with her for 24 hours, I went to freshen up at dad's & answer a couple of urgent work emails re a trial the next day. I'd only been gone 10 mins when my brother called me & said she'd passed. I got straight back in the car in floods.

Be sure to treasure that moment you had as she breathed her last; I kick myself daily for missing it due to stupid work.  It'll never not be a painful memory I'm sure, but it can be a source of strength forever.

14 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I think he had mental and/or gambling issues.

I guessed that but didn't want to speculate. I know he said he just wanted to get back to playing again  so fair play to him for that. But so many young kids, whether they make it or not, or make it then lose it, would do well to heed the warnings of experiences such as his. I bet he had loads of no-do-gooders around him who are nowhere to be seen now.

I'll put this here, only as it shows how cruel football can be. 

Jordon Ibe, once bought by Bournemouth from Liverpool for £15m as a 20 year old,  has just joined Ebbsfleet United, aged 27.

I'm sure he's earned (and probably lost) a few pennies in that time; it's a salutory lesson to all academy youngsters to enjoy every minute they have in the game.

On 13/10/2023 at 13:56, roverandout said:

My mum passed this morning 

Deepest condolences. 

4 minutes ago, tomphil said:

money thrown away on Brereton

And Lenihan, Rothwell & to a lesser degree Nyambe. 

Totally agree re measurement of risk financially, given what we now know but didn't 3 months ago. I can see us having to make a big sale in January just to keep the lights on (or stop more being switched off), but if we do I think GB would be as good as anyone to find a modestly priced alternative.

In the main, GB has done a v good job in identifying decent talent to bring in. As with all recruitment it's a mixed bag, but looking at it currently:

Hirst - bad failure, low risk financially

Hyam - huge success, high financial risk

Szmodicz - huge success, high financial risk

Morton - ok, low financial risk

Mola - failure, low financial risk

Thomas - ok, low financial risk

Ennis - jury out, low financial risk

Siggy - looks top but early days, low financial risk

Trondstad - promising, low financial risk

Wahlsted - promising, low financial risk 

Telalovic - jury out, low financial risk

Moran - looks good but early days, low financial risk

Hill - promising, low financial risk.

Standout failures are Hirst, O'Brien & a missed striker last January. Any one of those not happening could've seen us get that missing extra point last season.

All signings are risks in terms of will they do what they were signed for, or could an alternative have done better. But overall, and given the context that needs no repeating here, that's not a bad record for GB imo, so far, & significant room for further growth but less room for regression.

6 minutes ago, JohnD said:

For most executives at smaller clubs

Be off with you!!

On 09/10/2023 at 13:28, berkshireblue said:

I took a Chelsea and Arsenal fan with me and they both thought we played cracking football

Bet your Chelsea mate was chuffed given what was going on at the turf at the same time.

Was he cacking his pants about when we go down there at the end of the month?! 

On 09/10/2023 at 14:05, arbitro said:

Four players in the EFL team of the week. Is this a first? I'm glad the independent panel who picked this didn't think 'it's only QPR'.

 

Why doesn't JDT get manager of the week if 4 of his players get in the team??

Not that it matters, but still...

I'm writing this not having read any of what's been said before, or seen any replays.

The scoreline flatters Leicester, no doubt, but we have to be better in both boxes. 

Leicester's 1st goal was poor from our perspective. I don't think Pears needed to tip it over, but better safe than sorry I suppose. Having done so though he has to claim the cross or a defender has to challenge.  For Faes to be on his own, without challenge from a nothing cross, is criminal.

Our goal was even more criminal from their perspective, what they were thinking I don't know,and we took full advantage.

It was then a really nip & tuck game, but we missed a killer touch again to put finishing touches to some good approach play.

Their 2nd goal is class from them to be fair. The run, cross, control & shot were top notch. Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up.

2nd half we started much the stronger, and had Travis (great save) or Szmodics (great defending) scored then the last 25 mins would've been very different. As it was, Wharton lost the ball meekly, they broke forward then got the pen (soft but can't grumble), clinically scored, then we were wide open & had lost shape for their breakaway 4th, which was poor from Wahlsted. 

I came away v downbeat but overall on reflection, we'll not meet many sides of Leicester's quality & overall if we play like that we'll win more than we lose. But we need to find more steel and ruthlessness in both boxes, or this season will quickly get away from us.

We need to be confident & bounce back well. We can beat Cov & QPR but need to be more ruthless.

A couple of other things. Their #18 (or was it 19?) committed 3 bookable offences inside the first 20 mins. Also, why Faes wasn't booked when he fouled Sigurdsson 1st half is beyond me.

Why did we announce Brittain being MoM? The Leicester fans proper to the mick, it was quite embarrassing. 

Pears - poor, Wahlsted no better on the day, but way too early to judge him.

Brittain, Pickering solid.

Hyam not so good, Carter was better but still needs to be led.

Travis good but played too far forward to me, created gaps in front of the back four.

Wharton - plays above his age but still rash & loose in possession. Plenty of talent but must improve game understanding. 

Sigurdsson - looked tidy, seems creative but we were too narrow most of the time. Faded badly, understandably.

Moran - looked really good, but again faded.

Szmodicz - as above, ended up looking lost, is not a forward & lost his major strengths due to subs & formation.

Markanday - best I've seen him, but needs to improve his end product. Hard without a striker to play with though.

Subs were made too late IMO. Dolan looked lively, Telalovic had some good touches, JRC caught out for the 4th.

Overall a better match than the scoreline suggests, but we really need 4 out of the next 6 points. 

4 hours ago, moerpho said:

Going by the warped logic of the Championship I’m going for a thumping win in this one. That’s one thing I’ve learned from all these years in this league. It’s not like the PL where most matches are decided before kickoff amid the occasional upset that confirms the rule. In this league…chaos. So….a hard fought 2-0 for the mighty Rovers!

Edit: 2-0 is a thumping win

This didn't age well...!

12 hours ago, Bethnal said:

It’s a narcissistic character trait to wade into subjects outside of your own expertise (irony alert on this post) and there’s a clear case for business leaders who take a shining to the limelight to be narcissists, whether natural-born or acquired.

The reason we see so much failure of football club ownership, I believe, is because the people who decide that owning a football club is something they’d like to do - usually despite not really being deep-pocketed enough, being savvy enough or even being fans of the club - aren’t up to it and are too stubborn to recognise their shortcomings, as is the case with a lot of narcissists.

Whether you deserve the praise or not (and I firmly believe our current owners don’t, for example), when running a business that is successful, you’re liable to develop an inflated sense of self.

What we’re seeing with a lot of the incompetent owners in the football system is the perfect storm of people who believe they cannot fail and market conditions that they simple cannot contend with.

It’s not unique to football (see technology companies that fail after raising eye-watering sums and squandering it all), but it seems that football has unique outcomes.

When a football club fails, a town and a community suffers. The very football pyramid itself suffers. When a startup that caters to a ridiculous niche serving little to no purpose fails, it affects the employees and investors’ portfolios but nothing much wider.

There simply needs to be an evaluation of what a football club is, above and beyond its fundamental status as a vehicle for capital/limited company/“business.”

I think I’d hoped the independent regulator/governing body/whatever that’s been mooted/proposed would be in effect and beginning to challenge the existing system.

As it is, the body that governs the top level of our domestic game has fostered, promoted and sustained the existing paradigm, which is inherently unsustainable and very possibly a poster child for the question, “what happens when the worst people you can imagine chase the most amount of money, with the least amount of forward planning and oversight?”

I think we’re all at least loosely aware of the “50+1” model in Germany, but even that is a one-club top league, basically, so there’s clearly no silver bullet.

I believe football clubs are assets of community value and should have safeguards around them. Part of that should be community ownership and I think only when feckless owners can be challenged and punished for mismanagement (the owners, not the football club) will you see fewer chancers riding roughshod over the clubs, as we see currently.

I’ll admit that it could be confirmation bias, but I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that Tony Bloom’s measured and sustainable approach at Brighton came from an owner who is a lifelong fan. Same goes for Matthew Benham.

Of course, they’re very likely to be exceptionally capable (I know some that work for Tony Bloom’s firm and attest to that) but they are examples of what happens when owners think not what their purchase of a football club can do for them, but what they can do for their (in the sense that Rovers are “ours” as fans) football club.

Wonderful post, totally agree.

For those having a go at Eddie, I can see his logic too. There certainly is a sense of entitlement amongst many fans, and I don't think that would change with fan-based ownership because there is a large (often vocal) number fans of any club who will treat those in charge with disdain & mistrust, and will always feel they can do a better job without knowing exactly what the reality of a club's position us behind the scenes. That, to a large extent, reflects modern society.

Rovers are unique in that Venkys, using a scarcely disguised agent-led ownership model that the FA, PL etc didn't see fit to investigate, took us from being a paragon example of a well-run, community-oriented & self-sustaining PL club in days before FFP rendered that a necessity, to a shambles operating at a £20m annual loss and even 11 years in, is only back at square one (I.e. pre-Jack) in terms of the level of football we're at, without it's own training facilities and with threadbare attendances in comparison to our divisional peers. Venkys don't seem to care, other than perhaps how their dismantling of the club affects their family reputation.

At least Chansiri seems to care.

6 hours ago, Gav said:

We have Wednesday fans in the family Asia, they tell a very different story. The Darren Moore saga was the final straw for many, utter shambles by the media hungry Chansiri.

Didn't Wednesday fans want Moore gone after they lost 4-0 at P'boro in the first playoff game?? He certainly got dogs abuse from a large number of them.

9 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

I really dont get whats happened with Scott. He was superb season before last but seems so off it these days. I cant think of a young established player having such a drop off in form except Jansen and obviously he had a serious head injury. I dont think Scott had a major injury? Anyone know of anything that moved him from being superb prospect to fourth choice so quickly?

Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me, but didn't he suffer a ruptured Achilles which sidelined him for nigh on a whole season??

That might be relevant. 

11 hours ago, Dan said:

Being ignored. They were pulling each other off over the Liverpool goal that they replayed 12 times. 🙄

5 live ignored us too. Ours was the only game they didn't have a reporter at last night.

Mind you, I wasn't there either so I guess I shouldn't throw the first stone...

I assume he's still injured?

On a serious note, the situation at Rovers seems pretty dire.

Shutting down the BBE for financial reasons is a new low, especially as the DE stand will stay open when Cardiff will no doubt bring no more than a few hundred fans. That sends out such a desperate statement of muddled distress,  moreso even than turning off the transfer taps mid pre season.

How on earth is the club going to generate revenue if the revenue streams are switched off, it doesn't make sense.

I'm not buying that the website drop out is related, but it certainly sums up the mess we're in.

Does anyone know what's going on in India, given that the summer tap being turned off was meant to be a short term measure?