Yesterday's match was fairly typical of Rovers away performances this season. I didn't have much hope of anything else. We are a 'poor to average' team for this division. The defence is steady enough when defending (not farting about , trying the fancy passing). midfield is not competitive and attacking options are limited to BB doing something special. Never going to be a recipe for success. 

Shout out for JRC who at least turned up and played well with a bit of spirit.

If we are 'in transition' then why play Morton as he is not part of any future plans and is no better than what we already have. Nothing against him personally but it makes no sense.

Having said that, for the second season running we are in the playoff positions in January and have the opportunity to stay there. If, like last season, we take no serious steps to strengthen now then we all know the likely outcome. Other clubs will take the opportunity.

I wish I had read this thread earlier.

I phoned Roverstore on Monday and explained that I would be visiting on Tuesday to buy a shirt and wanted to make sure the shirt printing service was available as I've been to the shop in the past and had to return at a later date to get a name put on the shirt.

I was assured that printing service would be available on Tuesday. 

I duly turned up on Tuesday, after travelling a fair way, to be told there were no shirts available! You'd think they might have mentioned it on the phone!  

Apparently Macron will only supply in large quantities ( 500 of every size is the minimum order ) The club don't think they will sell in those quantities between now and the end of the season so are not ordering any. I was told that the lead time is over a month ( but I guess that would not have been a problem if they ordered more before completely selling out ). Who decided to go with Macron without knowing all this in advance ?

I wonder if the owners give a toss about this sort of thing? - You don't need to answer that.

45 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

Let's be winners - I was. Champions League winner, record goalscorer for my country, playing top flight football across Europe, playing in 2 world cups, winning 2 titles as a manager - match that .

No, go along with those whose collective achievements are like 1% of that.

That way disaster lies.

 

It's not Top Trumps!

A manager's past playing career counts for nothing and doesn't necessarily make him a good manager. Ferguson won nothing as a player but, as a manager,  had the respect of some of the world's greatest players - so it's a nonsense argument.

The players are allowed to have an opinion on the style of football he is asking them to play and are well within their rights to point out it doesn't seem to be working.

Still not recovered from Sunday. I can't get over the lack of reaction from our players when Barnes pushed Kaminski into the net after the first goal. It didn't even galvanise them into some sort of reaction. We just folded. Imagine Keeley, Flitcroft,Todd or Savage putting up with that. We need some players with some passion. I suspect Wharton may have reacted but, sadly, he wasn;t on the pitch. 

I would ask him what Venkys promised him when he took the job, if he believed them and if he has seen or heard from them since?

Has he been promised performance related bonuses or are the owners happy with an aimless existence in the Championship?

Have there been any actual board meetings to discuss progress since he arrived? Is he under any pressure to succeed at all?

I think I already know the answers.

Still not recovered from Sunday. I can't get over the lack of reaction from our players when Barnes pushed Kaminski into the net after the first goal. It didn't even galvanise them into some sort of reaction. We just folded. Imagine Keeley, Flitcroft,Todd or Savage putting up with that. We need some players with some passion. I suspect Wharton may have reacted but, sadly, he wasn;t on the pitch. 

3 hours ago, WacoRover said:

I’m frustrated by losing 3-0 to our rival, but I’m not sure how todays result was venkys fault. 

100% their fault. The buck stops with them. Interested and engaged owners can have a massive influence on a club. Conversely, absent owners employing underachieving staff and coaches does not help build a successful team. Rovers is a shadow of the club it should be and that is down to Venkys. A drubbing by Burnley is simply a symptom of their ownership.

Absolutely dire. I can barely bring myself to comment.

Sadly, it is no surprise - virtually every away match this season has been a dress rehearsal for that performance today. Playing those tactics with our set of players is suicide against a team like Burnley. We simply handed them the game on a plate.  Why persist with it ? why why why ?

A bit of passion may have helped to ease the pain a little - but no!

I think our league position is flattering and I'm not hopeful for the rest of the season.

I'm sure our lovely owners in India are hurting as much as I am !! The nightmare continues.

51 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

I am possibly alone, but I think I can see what JDT is trying to achieve. When it comes off, we score brilliant goals, when it doesn't (as last night) we continually give the ball away. Is it a tactical problem, or inconsistency in performance which you generally get with such a young team.

I am as frustrated as anyone about his unwillingness to change tactics during matches, my only hope is that he sees this as a long term approach worth sticking to for long term benefit. Guardiola struggled initially at City - but stuck to his principles. Is it arrogance, or just self belief ?

I agree in that I can see what JDT is trying to do and that he is trying to instil his methods into the players. The problem is that we just don't have players with the skill or composure to play out of defence safely. Travis, Ayala, Hyam, Scott Wharton are not sophisticated players and are not particularly comfortable with the ball at their feet. Brittain and Pickering may be more suited but still tend to be a little bit rushed. So it comes down to Morton, A Wharton or Szmodics to find a killer pass and last night they were all giving the ball away for fun or putting other players under pressure by playing them into trouble.

JDT can keep trying this approach but it's not going to work with these players. We have some really good players but we need to play to their strengths. Let the defenders be good, solid, no-nonsense defenders and get the creativity moved further up the pitch ( Bradley Dack hint hint ).

Playing this 'pass it out from the back' will never work with this set of players - they are not good passers of the ball and they simply end up eventually passing to the opposition. It's frustrating to watch even when we win. When we are bad we are absolutely dire.

According to IFollow we won 87% of the heading duels in tonight's match. Maybe the manager should have noticed this and tried to mix it up a bit.

Brittain on the left is just ridiculous. Vale or Hirst on the pitch while Dack is on the bench is ridiculous.

Very poor management  by JDT tonight.

4 minutes ago, Gav said:

Best side is losing, some great movement and one touch stuff from Rovers, we’ll win this. 

One touch to the opposition mainly.

I'd be ecstatic with a draw from this one.

1 minute ago, Miker said:

Really impressed by Garrett. He's done well since coming on

Should be starting before Travis

1 hour ago, Danishfan said:

This story is all over in Danish media as well, saying they had a big argument, shouting at each other during a training session just before Sunderland, which is why BD was not in the squad.

I recall there was a simular situation in Malmø. A couple of the players felt they were being frozen out with no explanation. One of them ( I think it was Rasmus Bengtsson) got into an argument with Jon at training. He never got to play for the club again.

If a manager won't play a player after a tiff that's a bad sign. Whatever is best for the team should come above all else.

I suspect Venky's have indicated they wouldn't mind getting his wages off the books. Remember Ryan Nelsen 'wasn't fit' for months and then signed for Tottenham and was straight in the team. Happened with others too.

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I things don’t pick up between now and then and the worst happens at the dingledome it could be taxi for Tomasson. He needs to wake up and smell the roses, he’s not here for a holiday..

At any other club yes. I think Venky's are past caring about results. Sacking a manager would just be an unwanted expense.

Maybe JDT will decide to order a taxi himself.

2 hours ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

Currently on course for 69 points which will have us around 8th or 9th.

Only if you extrapolate from our current points total. I think winning the first 3 games is probably giving a false pictue. I can't see us winning 3 on the bounce again any time soon.

Since those 3 games we have 9 points from 9 games. Carry on at the current rate of points accumulation will get us 52 in total. I think that is more likely than 69.

We've lost 6 of the last 9 and we look a poor team

On 01/10/2022 at 20:37, J*B said:

Rovers Chats interview with MGP has had to be pulled. Any guesses for who has issued the legal threat? You’re probably right, but don’t reply to that as they’re still monitoring here as well. 

What a shame that people can prevent the truth from being spoken just because they have enough money to start a legal battle that the innocent people stating honest facts cannot afford to contend.

On 28/09/2022 at 21:56, J*B said:

10 years since the fans of Blackburn Rovers, the Blackburn Rovers Action Group, Rovers Trust, BRFCS and numerous others all, in their own ways, helped rid our football club of corruption and disenchantment. 

Well done to all involved, I hope you’re having a beer tonight. As far as I’m concerned, we saved our club when the odds where against us. 

There's still a job to be done. The club still has an uncertain future while absent, disinterested people are in charge. We need to push for local people on the board and a fan's 'shadow board' as recommended by the Government backed fan led review.  One day Venky's will leave and we need to make sure the club is not left high and dry. 

A Sunderland fanzine once asked for votes on the best players ever to play for the club and the worst players ever to play for the club. Two teams were then compiled based on the votes.

Howard Gayle made both teams

Just remembered that we've actually had a Diaz playing for us before :

Jorge Gonzalez Diaz. Better known as Jordi.

I think he may have featured in the Worthy cup final

I've recently been in USA. Americans are sports mad and like to talk about it. In addition to baseball, American football etc, I talked with a number of locals about our football and they were all asking about Wrexham. I saw adverts for the 'Welcome to Wrexham' TV series in at leaset 3 different cities. Ok, so the two guys that bought Wrexham are famous Hollywood actors so already have a high profile but they are really putting a lot of effort, care and attention into the club and America is loving it. One guy I spoke to knew that Wrexham once beat Arsenal but didn't know that the Red Sox guy owns Liverpool which just goes to show what can be done with a bit of marketing. I really believe that Wrexham will benefit massively from all this and the club will go from strength to strength.

In terms of Money, Venky's blow the Wrexham guys out of the water. India is also a sports mad country and the potential is massive. Remember when Rovers were going to be India's Premier team and there would be Rovers' academies all over the country. What happened to that? If Venky's wanted to, they could drum up interest in India. Imagine if a fraction of the sports loving country were interested enough to pay for Rovers TV or buy a shirt. Why not have a link to an Indian IPL cricket team and show Rovers matches before a cricket match or during the breaks in play? Why not a TV series in India on the Indian owned football club ?

We all know the endless possibilities, however, it is quite clear none of this will ever materialise because Venky's don't want it to or simply can't be arsed.  This will never change.

We all want Rovers to win football matches but, in my opinion, any talk of chumming up to the owners and expecting some sort of benefit for the club at this point is simply a lost cause. If we have any desire to put the club back on a steady footing and have something to believe in once again, we should put all our effort and endeavour into persuading Venky's to sell up. How best to do that is the question.

48 minutes ago, phili said:

It's not a nightmare, new FFP kickin next summer, so this is the one time it makes no real difference to us if he goes for free or £20m. Venky's don't seem to care as long as they sell at their valuation.

Best to keep him and go for promotion this season.

Do FFP restrictions reset ? I thought they were always on a continual rolling basis and money coming for from player sales will always make a difference to the situation the following year.

13 minutes ago, imy9 said:

From the Wigan bench 🤣

He;s not even in the Wigan squad today.

41 minutes ago, JBiz said:

how does a club of our current position maximise turnover, avoid ffp sanction and ensure success on the pitch and in recruitment?

Hard work, imaginative thinking, reduced ticket prices to increase attendances, engagement with the fan base to increase attendances, better coaching, better scouting, better use of club facilities on non-match days, more sponsorship revenue, improved match day experience. 

Essentially we need the owners to take an interest and do all the right things. It's not just about paying the bills and watching from afar. Surely we all know this already. The club is a shadow of it's former self. 

2 hours ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

How can we hope to match the offer of a club in the Champions League who will have a turnover running in to hundreds of millions of pounds compared with ours of £17m or so ?

I thought Academy costs are not counted towards FFP and our billionaire owners never refuse to sign a cheque.

If that is the true we can compete in this paticualr case.

If Venky's actually had any interest in the club they could take control of these situations. Make it worth his while to stay for a couple of years, get regular first team foorball and prove himself, By that time if he lives up to expectations and decides to leave we can sell for a huge profit.

3 hours ago, 1864roverite said:

What utter rubbish if you have a question and want the answer and a forum isn’t forthcoming then go directly to the person you want the answer from!

Which of the facts that I listed were rubbish? There are systems in place for the CEO to communicate with the fans.

So if the Prime Minister doesn't give a straight answer to a question in the House of Commons you would book an appointment at Downing Street ? I think you have too much time on your hands.