"You should judge football on the performance level of the team but we don't, we get judged by results. The results are not very good but the performance level in both games has been pretty good."

TM at his finest after yesterday. The man is deluded.  Only Sunderland won't put up with it. 

7 hours ago, JHRover said:

When they are doing things like avoiding two local teams both playing at home on the same day there is a reasonable excuse and basis for it - avoiding / minimising the risk of fans clashing or stretching police resources too thinly. It also doesn't affect who plays who just that one will be away when the other is at home.

But when the actual games - and teams - are being fixed to suit a media company's agenda - which is what I think is happening here and has happened several times in recent years - that's taking it to a new level and leads to the question - if they are capable of setting the fixtures to suit what the media people want then what else are they capable of fixing or changing in the name of 'entertainment'?

Oh I agree entirely. But then as I said the top clubs not playing each other in certain weeks has been around since inqas a lad - which can solely be an entertainment thing - so its not new. Doesn't mean its right though. 

On 09/08/2023 at 22:01, JHRover said:

An amazing coincidence that the fixture computer throws up Kompany's dingles at home v City for the first game of the new season and Sky Sports just happen to have a documentary on the dingles that they are ready to release the same week. Funny how these things work out.

I remember reading am article when the fixtures were done by a person not a computer 90s, early 2000s?) and the guy was very open and transparent that it wasn't particularly random. There were all sorts of deliberate changes. I think 2 teams in the same city not playing at home the same time,  avoiding other sporting events and top teams avoiding each other in the last week. And those are just the ones I remember. So it doesn't surprise me that criteria like this could be added in,  nor do I think they are really promoting it as coincidence either. 

Did we not play Walsall in the league under Kidd years back and end up with 9 men? Or am I having a senior moment? 

As for the game, not sure we have any reserves to play! Feel a weakened side would lose and be overpowered, a full strength team even with current issues would have more than enough to best them. 

Absolutely bricking it before the game so a win vs a good championship team is very much appreciated. All the more so considering how thin the squad is. 

Delighted with the win but more than ever am aching that our owners aren't backing decently our best manager (bar big Sam) of their tenure. The squad is still paper thin and needs experience and cover as others have also pointed out. With that we could really go places - the desire is there, so is the effort, but we need more. Hopefully now a few sales have happened we can invest and go places. 

6 hours ago, philipl said:

BBC coverage of the Championship is abysmal but they have stirred themselves to write this:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66302766

What is striking is unlike Burnley last season, the relegated outfits haven't done a thorough job of sorting out their squads yet. They seem to be relying on the shell shocked relegated players who aren't good enough to get a transfer away.

What strikes me about the relegated teams is that all 3 have significant risk to them. 

Southampton have gone for a manager who is the definition of style over substance. Given that and the spineless way they went down - that culture may be hard to get rid of - despite some talent I definitely wouldn't be backing them to get back up. 

Leeds seem to have let everyone go out on loan. (Strange that.) As you say the squad is far from sorted but they seem to have shed a lot of talent. Feels like it's a starting again job. 

Likewise with Leicester. Add in that assistant managers don't always make good managers and it's a heck of a risk. Big difference between assisting at City to leading at Leicester. Mind you Kompany did OK so it can work. All the same though seems risky to me.  

Well after a summer off from football and the mb it's back to another season and one that's seemingly stacked against us. 

A lot of experience has been lost and whilst I think the wages could be perhaps used better from what we'veosr, we've hardly strengthened the squad. Operation depend on the academy continues. 

Beyond depressed Pears has been chosen as first choice keeper - form is temporary and all that. Still very worried by our lack of striking options. Honestly was last season not enough of a clue we need options up top? 

Positives, last season I thought we were goosed with so many players gone and was pleasantly surprised (and depressed at the same time) by Rovers finish. So despite feeling like we are up against it again, there's potential and history there to show we can buck the doom and gloom. Plus whilst not a top manager JDT is fsr superior to the previous incumbent. Mind you one of these years the lack of investment will come back to haunt us even more than it has. 

Onto the game. Eek. West Brom are a good outfit and seemed to have brought and built on last season. They have some very good players who on their day can be deadly. So not at all optimistic about this one. A loss I feel beckons. 2-0 to WBA.

Oh and adding to the Waggot debate. If anyone thinks he's competent and a good guy they are off their trolley. ALL the evidence from keeping the previous manager in place despite death spirals through to the January transfer window debacle that was beyond gross incompetence,  through to y'know basic A level business principles he doesn't get points out he isn't fit to run a bath much less Rovers. Along with our owners another reason we won't get promoted. 

On 25/05/2023 at 19:44, RevidgeBlue said:

The more offerings I hear from Broughton the more I despair.  The guy is a bs merchant extraordinaire. He must think the supporters are completely thick in trying to make out the season can be viewed positively because during the final disastrous run in various irrelevant "performance metrics" allegedly improved. There are only 2 indicators that ultimately matter, scoring more goals in a game than you let in at the other end and securing enough points to secure promotion.

Agree. Call me naive but the performance metric that matters most is wins and losses. Another tool who is passing off failure as success. 

On 25/05/2023 at 19:44, RevidgeBlue said:

I also see in an LT article that we're thinking of employing a throw in coach. Absolute insanity -  we need a decent squad of players and a couple of decent strikers before we start fannying around with window dressing like that. 

Agree we need a decent squad but I'm not against stuff like this. It costs relatively nothing and if it improves our limited set of players then overall its money well spent. We have to get the maximum we can from the players we have.

Mind you if the attention is on this over securing a squad then yes it is a poor way to run things. As an addition alongside a squad its a good move imo. 

What annoys me is the stupid short goal kicks. Inviting unnecessary pressure. It's odd what constitutes the "right" way to play these days  

Well done Luton  Shows that with an ounce of competencein the board room or ownership we could have been back in the prem, even without parachute payments  

The Coventry handball should not have mattered as much as it did. We left ourselves vulnerable to chance and injustice, just like the Huddersfield reserves the season we went down.  

If we had just turned up for one of those hiding, had a marginally better conversion rate, turned up before he last 10 mins vs a fragile Stoke, heck even just managed the Preston game better then the Coventry injustice would not have mattered. If we had got the basics right in recruitment,  even just submitting paperwork in on time, it would not have mattered. Sure its a fine margin but we left ourselves totally and needlessly exposed to that. 

Delighted that the only manager - and there's been some right duffers and dodgy ones - to say Rovers fans expect 95 hasn't gone up. 

4 hours ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Season by season,just gets harder for Rovers to get out of this league.

Given none of the clubs in the playoffs had parachute payments, and given Rovers and Millwall almost did it also sans payments I don't think that this is the case. 

In isolation one of the most entertaining games I've witnessed and cracking entertainment. However I do feel its a sticky plaster over some big wounds. 

For starters even before considering the wider context of the season no team will succeed giving 2 suicidal goals away. They were terrible terrible goals and don't speak well of the players manager. The Dutch disease is in full swing whilst it reinforced that the weaker keeper is starting. As did the Wharton starting and JRC in midfield leave you feeling why didn't this happen sooner?

Brereton shows what he can do when he puts in effort. Shame he couldn't be bothered for the previous half dozen. 

The biggest thing it showed for me is that due to the neglect of the squad a lot of players are being asked to do roles that are beyond them. Travis useful squad player and does a role, but midfield enforcer and guy to grab the game by the scruff of the neck - definitely not. Pickering OK at full back but really isn't first choice material. Not that this aspect is on JDT, Rome wasn't built in a day, he was left with a hovel to start from and got no support in January. 

Still there are positives. The academy continues to churn out an array of talent. that should geberate income and allow well spent resources to be spent on good signings allowing us to mount a promotion push without parachute payments. And the team showed there is some fight and ability meaning we can look up instead of downwards. There's lots of work still to be done and everyone including JDT should learn from this season. However if we were this close with all the issues we have, if we can improve on some of these playoffs should be doable. 

Well it's eventful... 

3 minutes ago, Spankus Munky said:

Dolan > Diaz

Kaminski > Pears

Brittain > Pickering

Garrett > Travis

Just 4 better options right there...

Agree with the first 2. Which is enough in and of itself to ask the manager what's he thinking. 

 why do we keep on playing substandard ez boro keepers when they drop to third choice at our rivals?

Not sure this team has 3 goals in 3 games in it  much less in a half  

Said to my wife today that results would go our way and we would mess it up  

We're an elephant away from a circus . Two of the worst goals I've ever seen  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65498068

Lamport getting his excuses in. Although whichever way he cuts it and no matter what excuses he makes ifs still an abysmal run. When you do markedly worse than your predecessor excuses ring rather hollow imo. 

5 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Coventry were attacking us and pushing us back. Let's not forget that Coventry's equaliser was handball and Preston's goal was very lucky deflection shot. Plus Hedges should have scored. Those are the facts

The third sentence clearly isn't a fact, especially when you consider his general composure in front of goal. 

Equally that both teams equalised is also a fact. So I don't think facts support that it was the right decision. 

Bare in mind too that they can only score - lucky or otherwise - if they are near our goal! Our third of the pitch. So if they hadn't been sitting so deep inviting pressure they'd have struggled to get lucky. 

7 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

Tuchel's relationship with the new Chelsea owners had hit rock bottom so after that only 1 winner there and its not Tuchel. 

 

The reason the relationship hit rock bottom was Tuchel wouldn't let the owner and a bunch of friends into the dressing room at half time! That's just sheer lunacy on the part of the owner driving out a very good manager for the sake of his ego. That's a massive criticism and idiocy by the owner who deserves everything he's getting for such incompetence. That can't be held against Tuchel at all. 

1 hour ago, DE. said:

One of the major things that does need to be addressed in the summer is the team's mentality/confidence issue, something that's been a problem for multiple seasons now. Our inability to come from behind to win, and our tendency to go on runs like the one we're on now, simply has to stop if we're going to seriously threaten the top six. 

It's unlikely we're going to have the budget to replace a significant amount of the squad - or maybe even a small amount of the squad - so this is going to need to be resolved in another way. The club as a whole surely has to understand that this is a major problem, and steps need to be taken to address it, if they aren't already doing so. From memory we're one of, if not the worst team in the top four divisions when it comes to gaining points from a losing position. Yet before our current run started we were excellent at gaining points if we scored the first goal, which very clearly points to an issue with the team's mentality. 

It doesn't necessarily come down to coaching specifically, and possibly falls more into the realms of sports psychology, but something needs to be done to sort this out. It's been going on for too long to be considered anything other than a deep-rooted problem. 

Excellent post. One of my main worries. Clearly something JDT has inherited but equally something he hasn't tackled. Perhaps unfair to sort in one season, given its deep rooted nature, but how long should he have? Had hoped for improvements in this area but in fairness it's a big ask to change a culture in a year. If it's not tackled over the summer and a marked improvement seen by the halfway point of next season I'd be worried he can't change it or hasn't seen the danger.  

A far from ideal result for us.  Not that you can rely upon other teams doing it for us. 

Tell you what this season shows though - can't compete because of finances is bull. Sure top 2 were parachute payments but look at the make up of the playoffs. At least 1 probably 2 plus who have smaller budgets than us. Y

15 minutes ago, DE. said:

After tonight's defeat to Bournemouth, Southampton are surely gone. Looking like it'll be between Leeds, Forest, Everton and Leicester for the final two relegation spots. 

Agree. Very surprised Bournmouth will be staying up. Had them and Leeds as going down with Southampton. As we near the business end of the season I'm feeling that my predictions are as accurate as a Hedges shot. 

It's a tough call.

Leicester have a softness i've not seen in a long time, despite some very talented players. 

Everton are toothless up front and have a horrific run in. 

Leeds were for a while playing well and still losing, which is a very worrying sign. (For them that is, I mean I rather like it.) They've picked up some points but had heavy losses of late. 

Forest fluctuate from showing the quality of their expenditure to looking like a disjointed thrown together mess, both of which seem true. Never sure which one will turn up. 

Blimey you can make a case for any of them. Will be fascinating to see who goes down. 

Incidentally I think Palace were wrong to get rid of Viera when they did. They'd had a tough run of games and had some winnable ones coming up when they sacked him.  I feel they'd have done similar to how they have done with or without the managerial change. 

Other end of the table City must be sleeping well knowing big clubs like manure and spuds can't mount a challenge. (spurs aren't that big, but you get the point )

Another factor to add in is previous form to this season. 

Prior to then Pears looked very weak whereas Kaminski has looked solid if not particularly special. As Bereton has shown us anyone can have a decent run of games but form is temporary and all that...