What a good result. A disciplined performance with a fantastic goal to win it. 

I'll say that without that striker we all want JDT will need more moments of exquisite skill to win matches.

A word on Gallagher. He is such a conundrum. Rovers picked it up when he came on but he does some odd things.

In his eagerness to get involved he was flagged offside from a Travis through ball. He had no need to go that early. 

He tried to play in Travis before Hadges goal, but he over hit the pass.

Late on he got caught mazy dribbling in his own half and lost it. Yet soon after he headed away a dangerous corner. 

I agree with the prevailing opinions so far. 

If this Rovers teams had a 20 goal a season striker playing they'd be playoff bound. 

I've said more than once that Dolan doesn't have it. Today is his usual, good performances are an anomaly. 

This game is there for the taking. 

3 hours ago, RoverDom said:

Liverpool appealing their red from Saturday. If it gets overturned, as it should, then it should raise serious questions about VAR given that it came just 5/6 days after the Man Utd, Wolves penalty decision that they apologised for.

I agree. It was never a sending off. However, I don't think that it can be classed as a "clear and obvious" error either. MacAllister did catch Christie with his studs. As arbitro says again and again, referees are thick as thieves and are unlikely to overrule a fellow official. 

VAR in the Prem seems to fare worse than in other leagues, and certainly the Champs league. There will be another mistake this week. 

As to this week's games. Liverpool started very shakily then looked good. Szlobozlai (sp?) looks like a very good player. Salah missed another pen, it's time for him to hand over duties.

Man U were woeful again. Spurs played well but will be Spurs. 

City ground out a result. 

Everton were terrible. It's very early but I think Burnley will hang on because along with Everton, Sheff Utd and Luton aren't good enough.

I didn't see any of the Chelsea game.

9 hours ago, ben_the_beast said:

Judging by their latest statement it appears United are set to reinstate Mason Greenwood into their squad.

I'm stunned because its just plain wrong. It's an endorsement of domestic violence. Violence towards women, and rape. 

Purely from a PR perspective I can't believe United are contemplating this. The evidence in the public domain is clear as day. It's not just that they will have Greenwood playing for them, it's the fact the club have endorsed it. As a fan, how do you continue to support that? I can also see a lot of sponsors cutting ties with the club. I'm not sure United have fully understood the shit storm which is about to come their way.

Note for anyone who thinks Greenwood has been found not guilty. That's not true. The victim has withdrawn the complaint so the charges were dropped. Something which is very common in domestic violence cases.

One final point. There have been many reasons to say this over the years. But after this. Fuck Man United!

Feel free to remove if necessary mods, as I recognise its a sensitive topic.

 

As I posted the other day - if Ten Hag values Greenwood's talent he'll pick him. I also said that Greenwood is a free man, but how he got there is up for questioning. 

A good few years ago Viz had an "are you a premiership footballer?" quiz. One question was along the lines of; you committed a crime that shocked the nation. How do you respond?

• Boast of your charity work
• Give a presser offering an enthusiastic apology
• Wrong foot the keeper and slip one in the bottom corner

Nothing has changed. 

1 hour ago, arbitro said:

I have always said that you don't need to be an active or recently retired referee to be a VAR. The laws of the game can be learned in a few days which obviously is a prerequisite and then knowledge of the game and you have the credentials. Sadly I don't think it will ever happen but for me it's a way forward.

I've always said that an ex-pros should be in there too to offer their take. They know the tricks.  

On 10/08/2023 at 09:13, SuperBrfc said:

A Shearer masterclass. The chip over the keeper. What a goal.

 

It's easy to forget how quick Shearer was. He lost a bit when he came back from the knee injury that ended his 1992-93 season early.  

I also liked Colin Hendry chipping in with a couple of assists from massive tackle/clearance combos. 

18 minutes ago, moerpho said:

Don’t forget Ruben Neves.

I also agree with Sweaty Gussets - I’m kind of digging it. Let the saudis rob every «superstar» from european football. Bleed the effing big clubs dry. Saudi league will still fail.

Sooner or later ManUre etc will come knocking for our academy graduates. Hope clubs in Championship and lower are prepared to play hardball when it comes to transfers unlike now where they go for pittance.

Another good thing with all the so called superstars moved to saudi is that it opens up room for younger and hopefully local players to shine. Still….I believe this just a phase that will come to a brutal end in a couple of years.

Neves is a funny one. I think he'll be at Newcastle soon enough on loan. He signed for Wolves when they were a nobody championship outfit too. 

I also agree that it is a phase. Players will still go and play there to top up their pensions but it won't turn into a super league. 

I'm sure that the Saudi's will give anyone who goes there the white glove treatment but at some point some incident will occur, however minor, that will make players think twice about going. 

It's a two-tiered league when it comes to relegation.

These 9 don't have to worry;

Arsenal, Man U, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Villa, Brighton, Newcastle,

Brentford should be good but they've just sold their keeper and their star striker is out until January so I'll put them in limbo. 

I wouldn't be surprised if any of these 10 went down; 

Burnley, Bournemouth, West Ham, Luton, Forest, Fulham, Sheff Utd, Wolves, Palace, Everton.

1 hour ago, Riversider28 said:

I see the overpaid, prima donna Premiership players and managers are already whingeing about the new add on time rules, before a ball is kicked. The solution is simple - stop wasting time on feigning injury, goal celebrations, goal kicks etc. If they had a brain cell between them they would realise that playing the game as it should be, there would be less extra time added to the game than at present. Fecking clowns. 

Guardiola was having a good moan after the Charity Shield final.

I'm sure he would have said the exact same if Trossard's last second deflected shot would have gone wide. 

None of them like losing. When they do they'll find any excuse to shift the blame.  

22 minutes ago, oldjamfan1 said:

It decreases as you go down the leagues, the Prem average was 55 minutes, Champ 52 minutes, League One 50 minutes and League Two 48 minutes.   

I thought the opposite would have been the case. 

I wonder why? Less skill means more bad passes?

4 hours ago, 47er said:

I posted on this topic a few months ago after stats were produced showing that the ball was in play for forty minutes of the 90 quite often and a few games went below 40 minutes.

Regardless of the outcome for any particular team, fans are/were being cheated. Football is expensive and we deserve better than that.

If footballers want to play for 90 minutes or just over, stop the cheating.

40 minutes seems low. I saw a table in one of the papers not too long ago showing Premier League teams average ball in play time. City were top at 65 ish, Newcastle bottom at 58 ish. 

I had a look and haven't found it yet but I did find this; Premier League in play 2012-2023

It shows the in play average is about 56 minutes. Surely the Championship is similar, or I'd wager even higher.

8 hours ago, philipl said:

Sigurdsson the obvious absentee.

 

5 hours ago, neophox said:

Sigurdsson, Ennis and some new signings...also Wharton and Tronstad are not matchfit for 90 mins....remember we lost around 10 players since the end of season.

Thanks fellas. I completely forgot about him. I assume he'll replace either Dolan or Markanday. Which is fine for me. 

The better team won, which is a good thing. 

Rovers worked extremely hard, could have scored a few more, and didn't give West Brom much. 

Scoring goals will be the problem. Conceding them won't. Hyam and co looked very comfortable. Pears looks to have got bigger, although his kicking was a bit suspect. 

Were Rovers small or West Brom massive?

I'm not a fan of Dolan. He grafts but offers very little attacking threat. 

Adam Wharton is a very good player, it was no surprise that Rovers improved when he came on. He had a mad few minutes when he gave the ball away a few times but luckily it came to naught for the Baggies.

There are a few comments about the team being under strength today. Who was missing? Sam  Gallagher gets plenty of abuse on here about being not good enough. Ennis just arrived from what was a League 1 side. Anyone else?

55 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

In my top five ever games this.

I remember it well. I was at uni in the USA. 

Back then ESPN had the rights to Prem football and they showed the Monday night game on a delay. 

There was no TV coverage of it and internet was in its early stages so I was able to shield myself from knowing the result. 

I remember sitting down ready to watch when my phone rang. It was my dad. The first words out of his mouth were' Did you watch that? 7-2. What a game". 

I still watched it but it lost a lot of the excitement had I not known the score.

How times have changed. There is no way I'd be able to do that today. Even over here.

On 01/08/2023 at 11:22, jim mk2 said:

 

From about 1961 when I started taking an interest in cricket

Boycott; Cook; Gooch; Dexter, Gower; Botham; Flintoff; Knott; Underwood; Snow; Trueman

They're my personal favourites which includes IMO the best Test openers; the best 2 all-rounders, the best wicketkeeper; the best spin bowler; and the best fast bowlers. They're all proper Test players and the team includes some dashing batsmen that the instant cricket Bazballers would enjoy too

Honourable mentions for the likes of Cowdrey, Graveney, Barrington, D'Oliveira, Barber, Milburn, Root,  and if you went back to the 1950s you'd have to consider Laker, May, Compton and Hutton but as I say, they're my favourites of the ones of my era that I've enjoyed watching

 

 

Dare I ask what would your equivalent be for the Australians?

Border, Warne, McGrath, S Waugh, Ponting, Lee I remember off the top of my head.

On 24/07/2023 at 15:34, Mattyblue said:

So Ossy the eastern extremity of the John Bull… unless anyone can volunteer an Accy chippy?

Not that I know of.

On 24/07/2023 at 22:14, Upside Down said:

Can't remember where I got them from, maybe mill hill. Was a long time ago.

Those "slices of potato", they're called dabs by the way.

We had dabs but they were said slices battered and fried. That's it.

They weren't good either. The potato was always too hard. 

I missed this earlier; ESPN: Spurs owner Lewis arrested on insider trading charges.

Reading the article it seems that he was trying to be nice to people by offering tips. However, those tips were, allegedly, private information.

I think that this is an odd signing; BBC: Zaha to Turkey

He'd been at Palace all but 1 year of his pro career. What made him decide on Turkey? 

I'm putting this here as to not clutter up the transfer thread............

All the talk of John Bull's got me looking. I grew up in East Lancs and had never heard of one. Thanks to YouTube and Holly Tree Chippy I now know.

YouTube: Holly Tree Chippy John Bull

It consists of mince sandwiched by 2 slices of potato, then battered and fried.

3 minutes ago, KentExile said:

Definitely agree with the bold point, but basing my opinion of if he will be a success on the basis of Welsh fans over the past couple of years, they seem to think his form (and attitude/work rate) has dropped off a cliff as of late

He did somewhat lose his way when he went to Juventus. Covid probably played a big part in that though. 

Bellamy went to Cardiff at the end of his career too didn't he? 

2 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Blimey, I'd have Aaron Ramsey all day long to run the midfield and teach our youngsters a thing or two. 

Signings like this are thin on the ground these days. Once good players don't tend to drop down a division and keep playing. MLS, China, and now Saudi Arabia are popular destinations. Or they retire as they have plenty of money.

It reminds me of Rovers signing Gordan Cowans. He was superb. 

2 hours ago, KentExile said:

I don't want to speak ill of those who are no longer with us, but it has the feel of a Peter Whittingham type signing, fantastic player in his day, but those days are gone and wages will be higher than his worth to the team

Edit - wish I could think of a different players name to use as an example instead of Whittingham, but my brain has gone blank

I'm not speaking ill either but Aaron Ramsey is a far better player than Whittingham ever was. Is Rooney going to Derby a better example?

1 hour ago, J*B said:

They had their Russian Oligarch funding removed when the war broke out, spent a fortune whilst they had investment which has resulted in very little resale value but high contracts and have hundreds of millions of investment into their new stadium. 

I didn't know that Everton's overlord was sanctioned too. Abramovich got all the attention.

They really are in a pickle then. Gordon got them a few quid. Maybe Onana is next out. He and Pickford are about all they have left who is worth anything. 

I've written enough on here about the absolute disaster that Everton's signings have been over the last few years. They have signed some dross. Dele Alli is back with them now too.

I see that Everton have signed Ashley Young. It's impressive that he's still getting Premier League contracts at 38 but he's not going to be transformative. 

Have Everton no money?

On 08/07/2023 at 11:38, goozburger said:

After being mostly billed as not good enough or consistent enough for Manchester United for the past several years, I'm having a bit of a chuckle at David de Gea being described as a legend in social media circles now that he's left.

I'm surprised that he lasted that long. He had good games but made too many mistakes, wasn't that good with his feet, and was awful at saving penalties. 

Paper talk had him on stupid money too. Ten Hag has done well to get rid. 

21 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Colwill is leagues above this level - what a classy CB. 

20 hours ago, roverandout said:

Because he's the next England keeper long term

I think both Colwill and Trafford will play for the full side. Colwill in particular looked very good. The rest, probably not. 

Prior iterations on England u21's usually had a lot players nobody had ever heard of, and who then never made the leap. This team has Prem regulars all over the park. 

21 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Also Kane had better be immortal because they're playing Gibbs-White and Smith-Rowe upfront. Where have all the big, athletic strikers in England gone?!

At a guess I'd say that Kane will hang up his international boots after World Cup 2026. Rashford will be 28/29 by then so hopefully he can take over. 

I've seen stories about Mason Greenwood making a comeback. That one will stir some debate if he manages to do it and get back to what he was.