11 hours ago, Gav said:

I’ve not seen the stuff myself, but one or 2 on here were laughing and joking about it last night 

 

There are some really sad people on this site. Their behaviour is pathetic and pitiable where it comes to Chaddy. Makes me wonder what their life is actually like when they spend their time obsessively arguing with him. This is a new low. 

1 hour ago, Paul Mani said:

As for being ‘some way’ off finishing 6th....WTF!!? We’re physically 2pts off there now, have scored 4 twice, 5 once, 4 clean sheets in 7 games and being described as ‘Dark horses’....if we’re “some way off” I don’t know what we’d have to do to be “in the mix” ???

Careful Paul. You don’t want to start the “in the mix” debate again...

6 minutes ago, 47er said:

And Brereton was so we paid £7M for him. Have I got that right?

I don’t think anyone is saying Brereton was the finished article when we signed him, and until he gets some more goals he’ll not be the finished article in my eyes. As Ossydave said above, he’ll be worth much much more than £7m if he ends the season as well as he started. Watkins was a complete steal for Brentford but you can’t always expect to get those bargains. We lucked out with Dack and Arma, and to my mind paid a premium for BB. Thankfully it’s beginning to look like £7m invested rather than £7m squandered. 

5 hours ago, neophox said:

Armstrong missed some sitters today again...

And what? He scored twice!

5 hours ago, philipl said:

Despite all the goals, I think Armstrong is off the pace at the moment. Wonderful things are going on all around him but he doesn't seem to fit in terribly well.

He’s doing ok so far this season. Do you want more than a goal a game? 

4 hours ago, Vilesinner said:

Give it a rest about Rhodes. Gestede and King were better than him. He scored nothing else.

This is so wrong that it hurts. King was in no way better than Rhodes when he was with us, and neither was Gestede as evidenced by the number of goals that each striker scored when they were with us. 

4 hours ago, BankEnd Rover said:

I would put money on Armstrong to miss a one on one than to score. That’s not a good sign for a number 9. Rhodes finishing was precise and accurate. 

3 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

Jordan Rhodes is a world class finisher stuck in the body of a Dog and Duck, Sunday league footballer. I watched him play week in week out and other than when he scored his influence was non existent because the games were being played far beyond his level.

I don’t understand all this nonsense about Rhodes and Arma. They’re strikers, employed to score goals. Armstrong has averaged a goal every game so far this season. Rhodes got us a goal every other game over a number of seasons. How many forwards have we had who couldn’t score goals? 

No other striker we’ve had since the likes of Bellamy, Santa Cruz and Yakubu could touch those guys for goal scoring contributions. 

Honestly some people on here need to appreciate what we’ve got. Some day Armstrong will probably leave us for a bigger club. He’s English, still relatively young, he scores goals for fun and he’s lightning quick. Maybe then people will realise what we had. 

53 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

I’ve seen nothing this season to suggest it won’t be unlike any other under Mowbray - other than a bit more creativity away from home. I’ve posted this in the match thread but it’ll be yet another, win 3-4 on the bounce, don’t win for 5-7 games on the bounce season. Defensively still frail has heck, especially on the road. The Mowbray brigade will be on here shortly extending their ‘judge him 10 games into the season’ benchmarks. What will it be next, Feb? March? When we definitively can’t make the top 6? The V’s for once, you would hope given another season of backing, will have said it’s top 6 or bust this season. My money would firmly be on bust with regards to the play-offs. Whether that will get Mowbray the pot, well I sincerely doubt it.

It’s funny how opinions can differ so much. I thought we were great in the wins against Wycombe and Derby, very poor against forest but back to a good performance tonight, frustrating as the result was. It’s never nice to lose but we played some positive, pressing football tonight, and were only undone by individual errors. To me that shows that we are moving in the right direction, and with our new LB to come in and Dack to come back I think we’ll continue to get stronger. 

I’m still backing us for the top 6 this season. I think this is our best chance since we were relegated into this league, as even though our squad isn’t quite as strong (no players at the level of Rhodes, Robinson or Gestede), we have a good coach and what looks like a very good team at this level if they can click. If we don’t get there I’d expect TM to come under pressure and tbh I think I’d be ready for a change if we don’t end the season round about the top 6. 

Talk of sacking TM now (I know you’re not calling for that) is foolish. 

7 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

who`s the scapegoat for saturday then??,tony has a long list to study imo

I’m sure he could probably look through this thread if he’s after someone to throw under the bus. Wouldn’t take him long to find vitriolic and undeserved criticism, and if he needs to find something completely bonkers and OTT to say post-match then he’d find the comments here very helpful. 

We played some good stuff towards the end of that half. Thought Brereton was excellent also and obviously delighted he got a goal. Real shame that we conceded two early goals but if we take that energy and drive into the second half I can see more goals for us. Nothing to fear here, let’s get stuck into them ?⚪️

45 minutes ago, Neal said:

Well. Garbage game. Forest were as poor as us. Neither team deserved to win. 

 

First, positives (if there are any)... Feel sorry for the back 4, didn't deserve to concede. Didn't really put a foot wrong, thought Ayala was rock solid again. Didn't look like they were going to concede. 

 

So many players I could gladly never see again. Evans can f*ck off on the next train to Stoke. Nothing sideways footballer. Gallagher should retire. He won't even get 5 goals this season. He's never ever in the game, just running round like bambi on ice, 5 Mill utterly wasted... Just go away fella, sick of looking at you. Buckley needs to go on loan, I've not seen anything from him to suggest he will make it at this level. Chapman is a league 1 player and will never be anything more. 

 

As much as I blame Johnson for today, his performance was beyond words, looked hungover... Yet, he's shown enough this season to have the opportunity to put it right. Maybe Brereton too, who was also absolutely crap. 

 

Felt sorry for Armstrong, he had nothing round him, worked hard, held it up well at times but got nothing. A truly thankless task. 

 

As a window closes, this game highlights the importance of the next one or at least next summer. A lot of deadwood primadonna's. 

 

Seriously, does Evans want a lift to Stoke? I'd kick the f*cker out the door half way down the m6. Useless. Just get out my sight. 

Evans wasn’t great but I think others were far worse. At least Evans got involved, even if he was technically lacking. 
Johnson was truly awful, I’m beginning to think he’s very much a hot and cold type player. Chapman showed nothing. Absolutely a waste of a sub and a squad place. 

That was awful. Gallagher was pretty bad and I am beginning to lose any hope of him becoming a decent signing. Forest did well to neutralise us although we didn’t help ourselves by constantly giving the ball away. Buckley did not impress and while nyambe looked very dynamic he didn’t produce enough for me. 

In fairness we’ve got a lot of players we’d expect in the squad out for various reasons and were unlucky to concede at the very end. It was the opposite of entertaining football and tbh I’m glad it’s over now. Hopefully we can get back to winning ways soon and I hate saying this but the less time Gallagher spends in the squad the better. Kaminski seemed good enough when called upon and Ayala was also cool and committed when he was needed. Can’t wait to see Douglas replace Bell as he was not up to standard either.

I still think we’ll be about the top 6 by the end of the season and hopefully results in the next few games bear that out. Can’t wait for Dack to come back!

What an amazing transfer window. We’ve finally addressed our defence, got what looks like a great keeper in, and some exciting talent from the premier league.

Time to get excited about a promising season for me, and I feel that top 6 is a realistic aim now. How good to be able to say that ? 

Additionally, it has been illuminating to see some try to put any negative spin possible - Elliot is on a massive wage and has a bad attitude ? we’ve now got too big a squad ? I sometimes think that people have an entrenched opinion about Mowbray and his tenure, and that they are sticking to their opinion until something goes wrong and they can say “I told you so”. It makes for amusing reading.

31 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

It's why the talk of "I'd turn down a £10m offer for him" always makes me chuckle.

He's a very limited player. 

7 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

He's an instinctive player. Whenever he has to think he falls to pieces.

It's why he's a L1 wide player and why he misses 1-on-1s with such regularity.

I genuinely don’t know what you’re on about here. He was player of the season last year, scored the best goal of the season, and has 5 goals in 3 games this season playing as a striker, the same position he is playing today. 

Can you see why people might be confused with what you’ve been posting?

Just now, Exiled_Rover said:

How does this comment relate to my comment?

You said he was a L1 wide player. I’m countering that nonsense with the suggestion that 5 goals in 3 games makes him a capable championship striker. 

Just now, Exiled_Rover said:

He's an instinctive player. Whenever he has to think he falls to pieces.

It's why he's a L1 wide player and why he misses 1-on-1s with such regularity.

He’s scored 5 league goals already this season. Can’t ask for much more than that from a striker surely?

38 minutes ago, 4000Holes said:

Every time I look in the media, we are being linked with a winger, a midfielder, another goalkeeper.

Why, when the most pressing need is for a left back and central defender.

I think Mowbray has lost it.

I estimate that 99% of transfer stories in the media and on the internet are bullshit. The only people that have lost it are those who follow the likes of Nixon. 

Just now, roversfan99 said:

"Encouraging signs of a player beginning to show the form that would justify his transfer fee" is the phrase that I would take issue with and suggest an element of hyperbole in.

Would love for him to justify his fee but he will need to start scoring a few goals in competitive games for him to even show signs of starting to justify any fee.

I dont think messages on here involve encouraging or discouraging the players, I just personally thing that whilst I totally appreciate having also seen slithers of positive shoots, a couple of goals in a friendly, the goal v Reading and much more positive running with the ball, he will have to start doing something constructive in front of goal in competitive games before he even begins to ask the question of whether he is indeed starting to threaten to justify the fee, or even play a considerable part in a team chasing promotion.

We were 7 points and 5 teams off last season, conceded far too many goals and have a weaker squad as things stand.

Of course though and as you touch on, a few real quality defensive recruits and the picture starts to change, we have 2 natural goalscorers which gives you half a chance. But I cant say that I have that the current manager can bring those in and fix this area of the team, for all of the goodwill I have towards him overall, and I also am not comfortable with the consistent dilly dallying that we always do in the transfer window.

Well that quote was from a different post? And in any case it’s not engaging in hyperbole to suggest that the early signs of an upturn in form are being shown by BB.

I guess the huge fee distorts matters somewhat but young English players with potential cost £££. I hope it’s not hyperbolic to suggest that BB has displayed some excellent movement and running with the ball recently. If he can add 10 goals this season I think we’d be looking at a player worth a considerable amount of money.

I think our squad will be much stronger this season. Like you say a couple of defensive additions to a young squad will be a huge boon. Our young players will all be better with another year of experience and development behind them which will make a big difference. The ball is in TM and the Venkys court now, we need those defensive reinforcements and I just hope that kaminski is an improvement on Walton.

I suppose we’ll just have to agree to disagree here as we’re just restating our own opinions. Come the end of the season one of us will have the gloating rights at least, how about that?

? 

31 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

"if Brereton continues with his excellent post-lockdown and pre-season form then we might just have a very good player on our books."

Surely this is as hyperbolic a statement as anyone could possibly make?! Or a demonstration how low the benchmark is, to describe his recent form as excellent. Or to suggest that if he continues and not massively improves, then we have a very good player on our books.

There is undoubtedly more energy, more enthusiasm and more involvement, and a tidy goal in the dead rubber v Reading. Otherwise, there was him trying to round the keeper v Bristol City and falling over his own feet when gifted a chance. Then he didnt threaten v Wigan. Then he got petulantly sent off at Barnsley. Then pre season, not that it is the best indicator as he scored 2 last pre season, but he scored 2 nice goals v Blackpools second string, either side of which he missed a penalty in one friendly that he spent all half offside, and in the competitive match, he missed an open net.

Until he starts scoring a couple of goals in meaningful fixtures and making a proper contribution, it is impossible IMO to start getting overly excited. We need him to contribute regularly for a team chasing promotion.

Mowbray has done a good job overall but there is constantly this if statement, if he fixes the defence, we can do this and that. And it never happens and is never prioritised. I dont feel like, although id love to be wrong, that we are anything close to a promotion chasing squad, which has become the expectation. We cant afford to underestimate the priority of a good start too, we already struggle to keep the pace with the top 6 without chasing a deficit as we always have to.

He made the same mistake in previous jobs. Including his last one where he had to walk away for not fixing the defence. I fear that whilst I appreciate the job he has done so far, there will constantly be the same ifs and buts and it will become stagnant. If we dont go up this season, I suspect that due to contractual reasons, a few of our key players may push to move on.

 

I don’t understand where you’re getting hyperbole from the quoted section? BB scored a couple of good goals pre-season and looked very lively without scoring when I saw him in a couple of matches towards the end of last season, so I think it’s fair to say that there’s encouraging signs of a player beginning to show the form that would justify his transfer fee. Don’t forget he’s still very young, and I’d rather edge towards encouragement and optimism when it comes to our young players. I’m certainly not “overly excited” which I think is reflected in the tone of my post. 

I agree that we’re always looking for an extra 10-20% from TM, but isn’t that life as a supporter of a big town club? If we had Pep, Mourinho or even Bielsa (or had resources to match) I’d be looking for much more impact from our team. As it is we’ve got tinpot owners and a budget manager who does his best. We “wee with the willy we’ve got”. Every season we get better (granted our defence seems to stagnate) and at this stage that’s good enough for me. We weren’t too far away from the playoffs last season, and while I’d never suggest that we’re in the mix for automatic promotion, I feel that with some defensive additions we’ll be in the top 6 by May. 

I agree that we’ll be looking at transfer requests if we don’t go up this season (and possibly before) but in my opinion TM has earned the chance at another year to keep on with the excellent work he’s put in so far. 

Just now, 47er said:

The key word in your sentence is "if"! We can always judge him after one more season but then that = Infinity eventually.

If is a big word tbf.

I still think we’ve got no cause to sack TM so far but IF we don’t continue to improve (ie a higher league position and sustained playoff push) then I’d be asking questions at the end of the season.

It is imperative that we get some defenders in, and IF we fail to strengthen defensively then I think we’ll struggle and look back on this season as a real wasted opportunity. 

35 minutes ago, TruRover said:

I actually think this is a great opening fixture for us, as there is very little pressure. Bournemouth will be massive favourites and while most rovers fans, like myself, will be optimistic there should be an overall recognition that they have a far superior squad to us. It’s almost a free hit, which means we should avoid the disappointment and anger experienced when we lost on the opening day to Charlton last season, who many saw as a home banker.

Having said that, this is still a game we can get points from, especially as relegated teams tend to take one or two games to get going, such as Fulham who lost to Barnsley on the opening day last season. Along with that we probably have a more settled squad than them, so I can see it being a fairly even game. 
 

I would go with:

Kaminski

nyambe lenihan Williams New/bell

travis holtby evans

JRC Arma BB

subs: fisher, Wharton, Bennett, Johnson, rothwell, Chapman, Dolan.

would actually prefer Davenport over Johnson but can’t see TM going with that. 
 

I think our recruitment this week will actually have a massive impact upon the outcome for this game. I think In centre back we have enough to get by one or two games if need be but at LB we really need to get someone in, Bell will cost us games.

Going for a 1-1 draw. 

 

Agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of playing a relegated team. We know from bitter experience that relegation can mess badly with team morale and lead to below par performances so this might be a closer game than expected. 
 

I like your team selection as well. We desperately need an accomplished LB to complete our squad, but in the absence of any signing this week I’d have bell in there. Could see TM going for JRC perhaps and playing Gallagher (please no) or Rothwell up front. This season I think Bennett’s best place in our squad is on the bench as his versatility could prove useful if we get an injury. He’s been a great servant but his first team days are behind him. 
 

I think we could just get a sneaky draw in this game but I won’t be bereft if we get a creditable defeat. In fairness it’s the perfect time for this game so?

8 hours ago, andyroversmad said:

Mowbray has had 3+ years to improve our league position and he has succeeded consistently.

He should of been shown the door for the shambles of a defence and the money wasted on Brereton and Gallagher. 

I normally hate it when people do this but... corrected it for you ?.
 

How can you sack a coach who has taken the basket case that we were post-Coyle and improved every single season? Yes our defence is bad now but is it even bad compared to teams at our current level? Brereton and Gallagher have a lot to do this season to justify the outlay on them, but if Brereton continues with his excellent post-lockdown and pre-season form then we might just have a very good player on our books. 
 

 Young players are coming through and Dack, Armstrong and Nyambe are playing at a very high level under TM. If we can get a good LB in and some quality for CB then we’ll have a successful season I think. I’ll be judging TM if we don’t improve on last season and make a good attempt to place in the top 6. i think the future is looking good ?⚪️

5 hours ago, Mercer said:

So some on here now think Rovers have a budget as we appear to have agreed a fee of about E500k for a goalie from Genk and everything in the garden is rosy.

A budget can take many shapes and form and some posters need to curtail their excitement!

Mowbray might have been told he's a net £3million to spend on transfer fees and wages have to be held at 2019/20 levels - IMO, very unlikely and I'd give this option no more than a 1% chance.

Mowbray might have been told he's to bring in a net £15million in transfer fees and wages have to be cut by £5million from 2019/20 levels - IMO, and I've i've said this for weeks, very likely and I'd give this option a 90% chance.

Rovers have to be honest with the fans.  At the end of the day, Rovers will want season ticket sales, replica kit sales etc.

They can't go round telling fans what the budget is exactly and I'm pretty certain no one poster has requested this.

However, they could say 'we have a competitive budget which we believe will allow us to strengthen the team and look to push on' or they could say 'financial circumstances mean we will be restricted to free transfers and loans'.  To say absolutely nothing is, IMO, crass, but unsurprising, management from Waggott and Mowbray.

The weeds outside Ewood, as some have posted pictures of, is an absolute disgrace and, perhaps, IMO, sums up our incompetent management team who don't really give a jot.

So does that leave a 9% chance of a £50m war chest? ?

Just now, Ewood Ace said:

Because its not true.

My bad that’s market value....

44 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

 

This season Leeds have gone up having sold 3 of their best players from the previous season and they haven't spent a huge amount of money on players but have brought in a manager who has improved the players that were already at the club.

Leeds spent £55m on players this season. How is that not a huge amount?

On 28/05/2020 at 17:28, arbitro said:

I wasn't aware that any staff at Rovers have been furloughed. My point was more generalised for all of football.

The difference between the companies you mention is that they won't be spending money on transfer fees. Furlough has been a really good scheme but if football clubs  (or any businesses) abuse it they should be punished.

Another way of looking at it is that signing a player is a form of capital investment for a football club. I’m sure plenty of companies that have furloughed staff will keep investing in an effort to stay competitive with their rivals. Are football clubs any different?

20 hours ago, DE. said:

I'm a bit shamed to say I've never played Chrono Trigger! It's on my list though. I've got it on my SNES classic console so I don't have an excuse really! 

The Streets of Rage 2 soundtrack is one of my favourites. I've played through that game a ton of times (probably more than any other Mega Drive game) and the soundtrack is super nostalgic for me.

Even the intro is killer!

The full OST, with practically every song a classic.

I also found this which I wasn't expecting... a live performance of the SoR soundtrack in Paris from 2018! 

 

Thanks for the last link.

Chrono trigger is a very good game, I never played it when it came out but I’ve recently discovered it through my raspberry pi. I’d forgotten how charming and fun the old JRPGs are. Just got FFVII working so I might finally be able to complete it!

Are any of the other FFs from the pre-ps2 days any good?

On 29/04/2020 at 09:53, DE. said:

Oh yeah, Persona 5's music score is immense. A lot of it is not traditionally what I listen to but it sounds great. All of the battle and boss themes are top notch, as good as any Final Fantasy game. I think the music is especially important in an RPG as you play it for so long and will hear a lot of the same songs repeated (especially battle themes) so they need to be good or they end up being annoying. 

My favourite computer game music is the “Jurassic rhythm” bit at the start of chrono trigger. Just a very cool wee jingle. Streets of rage gets a special mention also.