Blue blood

Likewise have never been that convinced by him. That said I also think he is clearly the best manager we have had under Venkys (not counting Big Sam) which is a sad indictment of our recruitment process.

And this is what debate about Rovers has come to. Whether a team that beats us is crap or average... Not a dig at you Hoochie, I can see your reasoning, more wondering how we have got to this place where this is the debate under TM.

We played Cardiff and Forest who both count as bang average and got 1 point... Not sure we can infer too much from 2 games but that's not a promising start.

I thought this but surely the kit is too late for it to be him? Didn't he leave before then?

And crap for Rovers.

I really did have a misspent childhood... Number 1 going out on a limb O Brian or something like that? I'm guessing now!

Anders Anderson the blonde in the ASICS/CIS kit? Or Tore Pedersen but think it's the former. Is number 7 Per Pedersen?

Konde with the dreads? Diawara from under Souness?

Who is counting? Certainly no one at the club or in a position of power. If he managed 12 or 13 without a win a year or two back without censure, not sure 1 in 7 will bother them.

Thing is I don't think it's a given even with these players back. I mean on paper yes, there's a lot of quality. But Dack has been out a long time and could take a while to get back to what he was and Ayala had always been injury prone. Armstrong looks the real deal these days but it was only a year ago he was an inconsistent chap with potential. Not saying he will regress but there's a lot of pressure on him to keep performing and a lot of eggs in that baaket. And of course, this is assuming they get back quickly which as you say isn't a given...

You know this whole injury tale of woe reminds me a bit of 1999. "When they're back we'll be fine" Only we weren't...

There's always a mitigating factor. Great point with the players out/in the circumstances. Where's the ambition? Our current team on paper is better than many of the teams in the bottom half, and yet we still set the bar so, so low. A needed point. A surprising clean sheet. But really, we could and should be doing better.

1) Is it a coincidence that 4 are from under Hodgeson's stewardship? 2) What does it say about me that i can name some of the older ones but not the more recent ones? Am I getting less fanatical?

If Gally is on the wing, TM needs firing straight away. No possible reason for him not to be there today, Bereton & Dolan both better out wide, no Armstrong to accommodate as well. Not sure why our best midfielder Rothwell is on the bench. He's been isolating not injured. Also, isn't a good job we signed Downing?

Well that's this game done for then...

I think my main issue with Downing other than the fitness/age risk is that we have a lot of midfield options but few defenders. If anywhere was crying out for an additional squad player it was defence. I still can't get over how we only ever go with 3 centre backs in a season. It's stupid - especially since 2 are injury prone & and even without that suspensions, injuries, Covid and loss of form all happen. Would have much rather we got an actual defender in. That said given there's more quantity than quality in our midfield roster Downing isn't the worst signing we could make. He's versatile, is an actual left footer which could widen the play, is better than Evans, and gives another option at left back where many of the back up options are less than ideal. He knows the club which makes it easier too. That said I really would have preferred a defender. How we think we can get on with what we have is beyond me.

Is it all that mental though. Yes, I admit it is hugely damaging but mental - as in a shock and wildly unpredictable - I'm not so sure. We knew Dack would be out this long and have had 2 windows to attempt to replace him. We knew Ayala had a ton of injury problems when we signed him. We knew Covid would interfere with all teams' squad selections. We knew we were very reliant (over reliant?) on Travis in cm as Johnson and Evans aren't dependable. Actually Evans you can depend on to have a bad game. No shocks in there. It doesn't help that we continued to play Armstrong after his initial injury. Had just the £5 million on Gally been spent better - or half of it, say on Bauer and a half decent forward - our injury problems would seem less severe. Yes, we've had some kickers. Losing Rothwell in particular was an unfortunate blow. But it's not like we haven't contributed to the problems we have.

Also for all TMs complaints I'm not sure half the teams in the championship could afford to have spent 12 mill on what are 2 squad players, afford Elliott's wages, and also not have had to get rid of a single player they don't want to. The hard luck story has its limits given the leeway that TM has had in assembling the squad. Think tonight has draw written all over it. Boro are hard to beat, we won't want to get beat again, so a draw the likely outcome.

Good post. What gets me is we paid money for a third choice keeper that Boro didn't want. Also the last third choice keeper from Boro didn't turn out very well at all...

Just run this one past me again. How does this work? For starters no fans are in the ground so I struggle to see how they influence things. Are you saying the players are trawling internet sites and it's knocking their confidence? Also given that Rovers Facebook and official site are quite positive, is BRFCS providing a speed bump that is shattering their confidence? And how many of the squad are on here having their confidence shattered? Or is it just when we are in the ground? Strange, as Rovers fans imo aren't a very critical lot - certainly compared with say Villa or Barcodes. TM hasn't really had much pressure from fans so I am at a bit of a loss for where this idea comes from. Also how long has this negativity been going on? As in has it only just started affecting the team? Been there for years? Funny because the can't defend for toffee or break into the playoffs has been around for quite a while, so not sure there's much of a change in our defending there. Not bothered about the past? says the guy who mentions our constant negativity and compares our defence to previously - both past events! I mean when isn't that a criteria for a football? You reference it in the same post comparing the present with the past defence. Whether he has won tropheys in the past with us or blown our budget and missed playoffs in the past, a manager's record matters. Heck any employees does. Sure don't dwell in the past but it has a baring on the future. Let's say one of my team has a chronic lateness problem, but after a quiet couple of months turns up late a couple of times again this week - surely their past performance has relevance? It's only happened twice, the past doesn't count, doesn't really cut it. Also given its taken 3 years to improve the defence, does that not seem a tad belated to you? And even then it seems the improvements might include a sicknote and a substandard reserve keeper. I agree the defence is improved although the extent to which I am not sure. Certainly it doesn't seem to be showing on the pitch - with or without these players present. Even if we are going on this season alone - the result has hardly been overwhelming. In fact our form has been pretty poor. Leaking goals, more losses then wins and draws combined. Yes, injuries have played a part but the rest of the squad is still TMs and all managers are facing injury and covid problems. Yes it is a lot, but even then I would say we have a better team then some of the division yet aren't picking up many results. Also on the injuries bare in mind we knew there was no Dack for ages. We knew Travis was out for a fair whack. We knew Evans was crap. That Johnson and Williams can be a miss as well as a hit. We knew we needed a new reserve keeper for yonks. It's not like many of our transfer needs were a surprise. However I am slipping back into the past, which is difficult not to do because funnily enough the past cannot be ignored and massively influences the present. Neither of which have been too inspiring under TM.

Agree. Which is why it needs to change. Then TM might actually be put under the spotlight for a change.

A few thoughts. 1) how many goals have been cost by poor keepers during TMs reign? Leuts, Walton and now Pearson - we have picked some.corkers in goal. Our problems start here and whether first or second choice we have had issues. 2) Lenihen is having a mare of a season. But this is the same guy who looked so solid last year. What's the difference? Why the change? Tbh I think a different partner and formation are not helping Lenihen at all. 3) in a somilar vein whilst it suits our attacking personal more, the overall effect of the new formation is the costs outweigh the benefits. We are hemoraging goals. For all the exciting football the costs seem to outweigh the benefits. 4) Why is Evans still here? Gally too for that matter. 5) Assuming this squad is the strongest we have had, and arguably it is, then what does it say that we have the same problems and same inconsistent form? Speaks volumes about the manager Somethingng else needs to change - namely the manager and upper management too.

Not sure with injuries and covid we or any other team will get near their best 11 this season. False excuse saying we haven't been able to field it. No idea of the result but expect with our attack and defence it will have plenty of goals in it.

,Hmm wonder how my boss would react if next time they asked for a piece of work I told them it was on a journey? Seriously 3 years in and we are still on a journey. in scoreline, position and form Reading showed the journey to be a mockery. Even without them showing us up does anyone really think it's acceptable to not be challenging 3 years on? Our progress on the pitch of glacial. More exciting granted but I would prefer effective. We haven't beaten a single top half team. That's poor. Dress it up whatever way you like but if you can't do that you aren't going to get promoted. I still think we have a decent team but TM is holding us back. Not playing Nayambe - the villain of his reign - still playing Evans and sticking Gally on the wings are basic oft repeated mistakes that continue to cost us. The keeper situation is depressing too. Getting a keeper who can't play our system? Seems an even more suspect deal then before. Resigned to another season of what if through thumping weak teams and we're only X off playoffs.

Think I agree with a lot of this. A centre back, who possibly can play full back as well would be my shout for strengthening. That said IF that could be done and we could get cover for midfield, or the deal was good for Rovers (e.g. a mostly pay as you play) Downing would be a no-brainer given an excellent season last year. Definitely just cover now, but can't think of much better cover out there for a cheap price. And I assume at this stage he would/should be cheap.