joey_big_nose

When was the last time that a January transfer has made much of a difference to Rovers? Usually we don't sign them till right at the end of January and then - even if they seem good on paper (Giles, Thomas, Dennis) they never really get up to speed. Best we have had in recent years is probably Forshaw, Ayari and Chrisene which is hardly a big endorsement.... That said our defensive options are so stretched we could really do with a Chrisene type loan just to have extra bodies. I guess I would go all out to bring in experience to bolster the thin areas of the squad (every position except left back and number 10, but starting urgently with centre back...) and focus on players who can come on 1st January.

Ismael cited the size and pace of Derby as the issue and he felt Hedges would be better at coping than either Riberio or Pickering. And tbh, while we were well beaten on Saturday in other areas, Hedges seemed to handle BBD and his general defensive role well enough. I dont think Pickering or Riberio playing instead would have made much difference. Agree it must be very depressing for Pickering and Riberio. Ismael is a very physicality focussed managed, and I think he is not a fan of those two.

What's the injury situation here? My guess... Toth - out Wharton - out Kargbo - out Carter - back? Cantwell - back? Baradji - no idea With Cantwell if hes back I wouldnt be that adverse to giving him a go up top alongside a striker. We are running the two we've got into the ground, and Cantwell has a bit of physicality this season. Something like Pears Miller. Carter. McLoughlin Alebiouso. TGH. Tronstad. Hedges Mori Ohashi. Cantwell Means we at least have a recognised striker on the bench which i think we need to close games out.

Yeah, this is when things start to get real... only position where we have any depth is left back/ left wing back where we have four players covering that area... Every other position. I guess a few options at number 10 (Cantwell, Mori, Henricksson). But every other position if someones out then we're playing someone out of their preferred role.

Agree, but equally cant really think of anything else we could have done much better either. If we cant get in behind a team we really really struggle to fashion anything. You could see Derby were completely unfussed about giving vast numbers of corners and throws as they were so in control of set pieces.

Thats part of what makes him a good manager. Looks at every angle to minimise the oppositions chances, including slowing the game up and wasting time. His record of retaining a lead once his team gets ahead must be very good everywhere he goes. Struggles much more if his team goes behind, but we didnt manage to get anywhere near that today unfortunately.

Neither of the headers were on Hedges side. Obviously if we had some proper defenders that would be better, I was more saying using Hedges ahead of Pickering or Riberio.

He had a free header on the penalty spot which he did very poorly with. The way Derby were playing he had no space to work with and they completely physically dominated him. I dont think we have anyone in our squad who can physically compete with powerful centre back. Its the sort of striker we need to find in January. Gueye should be that player but I have to agree he just gets worse and worse and worse.

One thing that did look surprisingly okay was Hedges at LCB. If we did that again I could live with it. He was pretty decent defending on the deck and in the air, and as youd expect offered a bit driving forward with the ball. BBD was on his side and did nothing. That said might be that Derby just didnt really attack much in open play all game, relied on set pieces, so not really tested.

Well we came back into it way more in the second half than I thought. But Derby were the most defensively dominant team I have seen at Ewood this season, and they've bought the right sort of forward players who can work on not very much support to make the system effective. Despite a bad start I think theyll do really well this year. If we come up against sides who play like that every week we are buggered as we arent getting any change out of a side that plays that deep and is that physical. Even Alebiouso who has had every player hes come up against on toast was marginalised today. Luckily most in the Championship come out more and give more space. Despite our defence being ravaged by injuries it was the lack of any decent strikers in the air that did us. Must have had 20+ corners and long throws and made virtually nothing from them.

To be honest the attacking players are identical, all the changes are in defence/defensive midfield We miss Tronstads passing certainly. The main factor though is Eustace is a very smart manager , and has setup his defence and tactics really well to nullify our routess to creating changes.

Derby have managed to score two without conceding any chances to us at all... Their two big lads up front can work off very little so they dont put anyone forward, while i dont think weve fashioned anything decent despite pushing more and more into the attack. If we get a point in here it will be a truly amazing result.

I don't really understand why Mori isnt focussing on doubling up down the right with Alebiouso which worked so well against Bristol City? Henricksson is there but he doesnt have the right level of technique to make it work.

That would be mad? Why shackle our best attacking player in a back three?

Really strange selection, dont think anyone would have predicted it. I suppose what could be on our favour is Derby would have been prepping for 3412 but we've gone for a completely different shape. Looking at it I am wondering if we have gone 433? I can sort of see it working with TGH anchoring and Hedges and Henricksson either wide being physical and covering the ground? Also - I wonder if Mori will get a free role to create overloads which worked so well against Bristol City? Pears Alebiouso. Miller. McLoughlin. De Neve Henricksson. TGH. Hedges Ohashi Gudjonsen. Mori

Great shout! I will also be there.

Hes had periods of being decent after being dropped before so I am getting right behind him. Need to give him a good reception and build him up. If the fans get on top of him it won't help.

I wonder if they pulled the shirt because they realised they were going to get absolutely panned. If they had any desire to sell it even after Christmas they would have done some communication on it.

Wow... really feels like we are setting ourselves up for a classic death spiral here. 😞

Agreed.. its completely evidence based on previous seasons to assume Carter and Wharton will play only 50% of games each and we should have planned on that basis. Really we only have 3 cbs, and that is counting Miller who is arguably more of a rcb (McLoughlin, Miller, Carter+Wharton). On that premise we should have two more cbs in the squad as its a totally accepted norm that you need five.

If he was a good fit for the centre of the three I would maybe be open to risking Carter, but him and Miller are good RCBs but I dont think they really have the head up style that you need in that centre CB role. I would definitely be looking more at Pickering for LCB - he has done that role well before. Riberio just doesn't seem a good choice imo. Not as comfortable in the air and physically one on one. Across the back five I think the preferred options are as follows (bold starter, italics back up) Hedges. McLoughlin Wharton. Carter. Alebiouso De Neve. Pickering. McLoughlin Miller. Miller

Will ownership of the club and how this has impacted supporters, the club and the area be a focus? As I think there might be a lot of feedback.... I think that might be a theme across a lot of clubs in the North, including ours. I think the general consensus could well be the that the quality of new and existing ownership needs systematic improvement, and the football regulator needs to have the tools to drive change in this regard.

Both Kalinic and Nzonzi left before we played in the Championship I think, so not in scope. Rochina a great shout though.

He came in about two years ago - was okay, then unbelievably bad (wigan away...), back in after Wahlstadt (even worse than Pears) and a bit shaky, then around six months of being actually pretty good, then back to shaky, and here we are. I reckon we are looking at about a 33% chance of him coming back in and being any of good/shaky/diabolical.

Oooh what a great pub quiz question - since 2011 what player has gone on to have the most top flight games across Europes five major leagues. Got to be (if we exclude loanees) 1. Raya 2. Cairney After that a lot more guessing. Hanley, Duffy racked up a few. Hoilett? BBD. Wharton now obviously. Ooh... Josh King must be up there. Armstrong Really highlights how few top level players we have had.