36 minutes ago, philipl said:

Would have been goal of the decade- I give you Ruben Rochina: 

 

Jason Lowe's reaction to that shot, is everything that was wrong with that team at the time. We stifled/condemned creativity and instead prefered the slow, safe option. Incredible that we didn't get into the playoffs with that side. For all his doubters, Rochina has gone on to have a really good career. He could've been a massive asset for us if we'd managed him properly.

Enjoyable watch so far. Bristol City look a good side but we're hurting them on the counter. Brereton has wasted some good opportunities to create something but he's getting himself about a bit. The lads who've came into the side are all performing well.

That horse was destined to win after that conversation! 

Just now, Paul Mani said:

100%. Get a LB and Gk. The key after that is to keep our current formula and pattern of play. High tempo. Target man up top and get Rothwell, Dack, Arma, Holtby etc playing off him. Gally has all the attributes to succeed Graham in THAT position. 

If we can stretch to CB cover and a loan move for Kodija or Brewster then I think we can be there or thereabouts

Yeah, Left Back and GK are a must. Those positions alone could potentially push us into play off contention. 

Despite the lack of goals, I've actually liked what I've seen of Gallagher this season. It's a shame he's been shunted out on the wing so much. He looks like he's actually learned to use his height a bit when going up for headers. Hopefully he keeps improving. 

On 03/12/2019 at 17:41, old darwen blue said:

Got the Garner one, I can still get in it.............

just!

I think the girlfriend has mine now. Doubt I'll get back into that again. 

As has been mentioned, the legends tshirts were great. Navy with a white trim on the neck and sleeves. I had the Matt Jansen one. Still have it stashed away somewhere.

I've kept myself away from anything Rovers related on here and Facebook for a while now, as I've been silently fuming about how we've been getting on. I didn't want to be influenced by the overreaction parts of our fan base seem to stir up frequently.

I've had enough this week though.

- A great performance (but a weak point) against a Huddersfield team there for the taking. 

- A completely inept 'performance' against a Birmingham side that didn't seem up to much, completely failing to build on the previous performance.

- Mowbray's ridiculous comments before the Man City game, sorry Preston game.

We need a change of manager. Shades of Bowyer all over again. Similar mistakes as well. Can't even bring myself to go in to detail at the moment as I'm that pissed off with it all.

12 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

I knew Cunningham had done his cruciate as soon as I saw him do the injury and then try to carry on.

I did my PCL many years ago and at first the knee feels strange but not that painful. So then you try to play on but it soon becomes apparent you cannot move properly because the knee is weak and wobbly.

Cunningham will be out for the season, a real blow for Rovers as it leaves us with a League One defence - an inexcusable state of affairs when the defence has been so poor for 18 months or more.

Mowbray needs to find some better defenders from somewhere - and soon. 

It's such a blow for us as he was looking like a massive improvement in that position. I very much doubt we'll see him again this season, as you say. 

I tore my ACL about 6/7 weeks ago and it's such a strange feeling. I had very severe immediate pain when it happened and had to be carried off the pitch. Sitting on the sidelines with my leg outstrectched I genuinely felt like I could've gone back on. The hobble back to the changing rooms definitely proved that I couldn't! Had to spend 4 weeks working from home as I just couldn't get up and about. For the rigours of professional football, it's going to be at least 6 months before he can confidently get going again.

I think what's promising about our team is we now seem to have a genuine goal threat from deep, in Johnson. I echo concerns that our forward players aren't delivering at the minute in terms of converting chances, but that will come. When you have the likes of Johnson and Downing (who both look like they could reach the 5 goal mark each) who can chip in, it takes the pressure off the strikers having to reach that 15-20 goal mark. I'd rather see us score goals from all over the pitch, than be solely reliant on a Dack or Graham to score all of our goals. 

54 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Just had a realisation this morning 

Lenihan Williams Johnson Travis > Lenihan Mulgrew Smallwood Evans 

Those 4 positions are crucial and we are so much better there this season 

It's quite exciting to be honest. I managed to get to my first game this season against Boro and the way our midfield ticked over was brilliant to watch. How long have we been calling for the Smallwood/Evans axis to be killed off. Seems we've finally got our wish. 

Just now, DE. said:

Other than the penalty did we have a lot of other opportunities from open play? Curious as to how we fared creatively.

In the first half we created a few openings from open play. Gallagher came close to getting on the end of two balls and Graham on another. 2nd half was a bit quieter as we tired but Rothwell should've done better with Buckley's squared ball. 

Just now, JacknOry said:

Yes in a way. I am still not entirely convinced as part of a two but he did do OK there despite many of those games being dead rubbers at the end of the season. Deserves a shot as a backup CB for the season.

I think that's the key thing here. He's only going to be a back up CB. He's obviously going to end up playing quite a few games as Lenihan tends to have the odd short term injury every so often, but he should be good enough as cover. I actually quite like Williams (think I'm in the small minority on here) to be honest. It was his positional sense at LB which often left him exposed and look a lot worse than he is. Hopefully moving him inside helps him a little. 

Just now, JacknOry said:

He played in a back three though. Still, he did look ok there at end of season.

Your point being he may not be as comfortable in a CB pairing? As you said yourself, he did look good in that role last season. Certainly more comfortable than he looked at LB anyway.

Just now, Hi Mack said:

I'm still laughing/crying at the fact we were screaming for a centre half all day yesterday as we were short......

THEN we sell a CB (our captain) and get our 4th LB in on loan!! ??

Cunningham is miles better than the other 3 but we are now welding round pegs In Square holes rather than merely placing them in. 

Williams is now a CB, just like that.

In all fairness, Williams was a CB at Bristol City and we decided to play him at LB. If anything he's now back in his natural position.

Just now, DE. said:

 

?

That's hilarious. The 'meltdown' is over whether we've sorted a replacement plus other defenders, not about losing Mulgrew.

There's absolutely no way they're letting Mulgrew go without a CB replacement. Must be someone coming in, alongside Cunningham hopefully! Tosin better be something special and made of titanium if not. 

Just now, Iceman said:

Walton

Nyambe Tosin Hanley Cunningham 

Downing Johnson Lennihan 

Dack Travis 

Gallagher

 

I think we need to sell some players. I think this squad is too big 

I'm glad you're not in charge of picking the team!

Just now, JHRover said:

Sky claim we're after Idrissa Sylla on loan from QPR. 

We were linked with him a while back weren't we? Looks as though he doesn't play for QPR anymore. 

Literally never heard of Greg Cunningham before he was linked to us, but he sounds like a good signing from what people are saying.

If this does indeed go ahead, at least it's a sign that Mowbray realises we have an issue at left back!

Too early for Mowbray out calls IMO. Give it 10 games then see where we are. If there are no positive signs at that stage, then I agree he's got to go.

A couple of things are really annoying me though. Our pre season didn't include any real tests. We should've been fit and firing for Charlton and instead we just seemed woefully underprepared. Defence wise, I won't even go there. We all know what Mowbray said about last season and we all know what we saw last season. That needed to be addressed and it hasn't.

Just now, JoeHarvey said:

I’d love them to go with the training top for a third kit, with proper navy shorts.

Did they say when it would be released?

Not sure whether there is one already but Rothwell definitely needs a chant. During the L1 season you could see Mowbray getting twitchy on the sidelines whenever we chanted for Chapman. Give the fans what they want.

I've not looked into this properly and I don't know where the data is sourced from, however this website is quite interesting in terms of wages at different levels of the football pyramid. Seems to be based on the season we were in L1.

https://www.footy.com/footballers-vs-the-fans/#you-vs-your-club

Bizarre situation with Wharton. I understand wanting to keep hold of assets who may come good in future, but a 3 year deal seems excessive for someone who doesn't seem to be anywhere near the first team. I'm actually quite surprised he's still only 21. Fair play to him for breaking through when he did a couple of seasons back. 

As for the loan, why is he going back to L2?? The only way that would make sense for us is if they've guaranteed that he'll play every game when fit. Otherwise he should be trying to play regularly at a L1 club like Hart did last season.

Just now, JoeHarvey said:

It’s unrealistic to think that we played well second half. We created nothing really and just played the ball around at a mentally slow tempo through Downing at CM. Against any kind of decent opposition we’d have been scrambling second half. 

Just pointing out Buckley is the game changer, when he’s off, the press isn’t as high or as drastic, the play is slower and the creativity just slowly dries up. Luckily Armstrong made a great signature run at the death, but second half we barely got out of 1st gear.

I appreciate the extra details about the match, but you've completely missed the point of my post. No bother though.