Mike E

Can we revert to the Trust Tony mantra yet?

What happened chaps?

2 free agent suggestions, which I think are reasonable, but only if alongside another good defensive transfer: Robert Huth, 34 but could be a good short term option (6 months, with offer of another year if does well). Phillip Wollscheid, 29, formerly of Stoke, Metz, and some German teams. Without a club since Jan, but could be a good ‘rescue’. Re: Jonesy, he’s available next summer. Tempting...

The defence is less of a worry if the midfield is choc full of ‘harriers’ like Bennett, Reed, Rothwell, and Conway. That’s also the midfield I’d pick. Not necessarily as ‘our best’ but for this game to get a reaction. Also play Brereton up front alongside Graham (preferably Armstrong) just to give us enough mobility and options when passing forward. This way, any lumps forward would be for Armstrong to run on to, instead of just at Graham’s head.

I view it more as he’d be driving the team forward from midfield, BUT it would require the other midfielder to be prepared to show for him or mop up.

Correct. They need to experiment more with pricing and understand that Blackburn is not an affluent area. £10-15 tickets, £20 for 3 games, ‘Kids for a quid’, those sorts of incentives. And get rid of that fucking surcharge, which relies on 8 out of 9 fans still walking on just to break even.

He IS a consistent manager getting results... it’s only the last 2 games where we’ve looked crap.

I do agree to an extent, but the winning mentality is more important to us over a season than wins. If we come out fighting it’ll be a sign that we can turn it round. A win will be exceptionally welcome though

I don’t mind a draw, I just want to see the gritty Rovers we saw before the break, not the ones that look like they’re giving up.

I don’t know anymore ????

BUT that cover would allow Reed and Rothwell to get forward in support of the attack. Equally, when the wingers bolt forward, Reed and Rothwell are both defensively capable.

I like that but would swap Bennett and Rothwell’s positions. Bennett and Conway on the wing would provide better defensive support for our full backs. Would also prefer Brereton to start, simply to get him on the pitch. I feel he and Rothwell are itching to kick on at this point, as they’ve both shown they can drive at teams and positively influence our general performances.

Rothwell, I agree needs a ‘sitter’ alongside him, but Reed is a good box-to-box. In some ways, you could argue Rodwell sat behind Reed and Rothwell would work very well as a midfield 3. Would require 2 wingers and a mobile striker, however, essentially rendering Dack somewhat redundant.

I’m going to revise my assertion last month that Rodwell would make a good centre back. I was wrong. He makes an adequate makeshift centre back when desperate, or perhaps a solid option for ‘the composed one’ if playing 3 centre backs. But in reality, he’s shown that he is a sitting midfielder.

I’d swap Rodwell and Lenihan to put Rodwell centre. That way he can nudge forward into midfield for an easy transition into 4-3-1-2

I’m not putting too much emphasis on a result on Sat (would be VERY welcome) but I want to see a team play good, hard football. Make me feel like I did at the Ewood Shrewsbury game last season, lads.

Thanks for that Neal. It’s good BUT highlights a key point that he still hasn’t taken responsibility for his own errors. If we don’t win on Sat, it’s ‘fool me thrice’.

Got to be RDR2 or Spider-Man for me. Both games I couldn’t wait to carry on! Still only at the end of Ch3 in RDR2 but it’s mind-blowingly good.

Feels like Nicko’s 11 O’clockers again! Gwan Neal!

Only grief you’ll get from me is for a crap chant ? Otherwise, we are surely ALL feeling frustrated and pissed off after an almighty bump back to Earth after the last 2 games.

As suggested in the relevant admin thread about a week ago, will it be beneficial to direct member traffic to various Rovers related twitter/news sites THROUGH the home page? Perhaps include Rovers Trust updates on there too?

As I posted in the Wigan thread: Significant adjustments required: Raya Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Bennett Reed Rothwell Conway Graham Brereton Bench: Leutweiler (covers gk), Downing (covers cb), Bell (covers lb, lm at a push), Rodwell (covers creative cm, cb at a push), Evans (covers aggressive cm), Dack (playmaking option), Armstrong (pacey option up front, on wing at a push). Square pegs for square holes, play it on the ground through the middle or play it down the wings to cross. Flat back 4 to HOLD THE LINE WHEN DEFENDING. Addition: My plan above is to focus on playing down the wing, aiming to cross to 2 of our tallest players. Two central players who are hard but can both drive forward with the ball if necessary. Full backs to defend and only go forward on the counter or when the defensive line moves forward. When one cm drives forward in support, the other hangs in front of the centre circle, to cut out any counters down the middle and give straight back to our wingers. Hope that makes sense.

It’s strange, as there are plenty who SHOULD be leaders: Mulgrew, Graham, Bennett, Conway. Hell, I’d include Evans and Lenihan in that too tbh

Had my doubts about Rich once upon a time, but kudos. That is a good, thoughtful piece pulling no punches without being scathing.

Significant adjustments required: Raya Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Bennett Reed Rothwell Conway Graham Brereton Bench: Leutweiler (covers gk), Downing (covers cb), Bell (covers lb, lm at a push), Rodwell (covers creative cm, cb at a push), Evans (covers aggressive cm), Dack (playmaking option), Armstrong (pacey option up front, on wing at a push). Square pegs for square holes, play it on the ground through the middle or play it down the wings to cross. Flat back 4 to HOLD THE LINE WHEN DEFENDING.