26 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

You can get 6 pts with only 2 shots if you’re lucky. If you’re really lucky you can get 3 points with 0 shots !

They did against Norwich! Grant Hanley doing us a favour by putting the ball in his own net. 

If Colin gets their defence sorted over the international break then they'll have a good chance, but I think their last two results are smash and grabs. 

18 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I never pretend to be “ in the know “ because I’m not. I bumped into a guy I’d never met before last Friday at a gig. He found out I was a Rovers fan and he told me he was very close to one of our fringe players. No names. We got to chatting about the team . One thing the lad told him that Thomas wasn’t popular with some of the other players on account of him giving it “ large “ and being “ the big I am “. Going on about being at the last World Cup etc. Given he was playing non league not that long ago it hasn’t gone down too well. Take it or leave it.

Fairly or otherwise, I can believe that. He clearly didn't fancy being in the trenches when the going got tough at Huddersfield. 

Like most, I don't mind having players who rub people up the wrong way provided that they do the business. Thomas is no Bellamy in that respect, but he has definitely added another dimension to us with his pace and delivery. I trust JDT entirely to make the call about whether he is worth it or not. When you've played at the level he has with some of the egos that he will have shared a dressing room with, I can't imagine that he would lose much sleep about division two footballers. 

Burnley

Boro

Luton (Boro if Sheffield United get over the line into second)

Current bottom three to go down. Huddersfield's last two results have been brilliant, but they've managed to get four points from two shots on target! 

1 minute ago, BigBar said:

Need a midfielder desperately if not two. Trav has been impressive in recent games so hopefully that continues. Sammie been excellent when played imo  The rest are below standard and we need to get someone in. 

Need a striker too. Unfortunately Gally has shown the last while he is useful at some things but putting the ball in the back of the net is not natural to him. If we lose BBD then we probably need two.

Pickering has been ok recently but we should still look to upgrade. Fine as back up.

Morton is going and we're already short on first teamers there, so I agree that we'll need another option there (and ideally an upgrade on Morton). I'd say we just need the one though. We've got a difference of opinion on Buckley, but even putting that aside there'll be an expectation that A. Wharton and Garrett will become more important too, unless they get loaned out.

I agree too that we need two forwards if/when Brereton goes. I like Gally, but he's shown that when we're struggling for goals elsewhere, he can't be the main man that we rely upon. It's going to be interesting to see how we go about this. They don't necessarily both need to be prolific out and out goal scorers - getting a left sided winger a la Thomas and bringing in a goal scoring number 9 would be interesting, but one way or another this is the area that needs urgent strengthening for me.

Everything else is a bonus for me. We could well sell one of our keepers now that Pears has shown himself to be ready for first team football - so we might need a replacement there. Signing Thomas permanently is pretty important too come to think of it, but hopefully that should be straightforward given Huddersfield's problems just now. 

17 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Harsh. JRC was out on his ear 2 months ago, injury prone and struggling to get in the team. Nobody saw this turnaround in his fortunes. 

I'd be amazed if contract talks weren't going on with those two.

I'd imagine they would both be straightforward. 

JRC - has been excellent but he won't have forgotten where he was a few months ago, and other clubs won't have forgotten about his fitness record. A new deal here will surely suit all parties.

Carter - slightly different in that he'll want to make sure that he is actually playing games now that he's got in the side. Ayala on his way out means that there should be a gap for him and Wharton to compete over. He might want to make sure that he doesn't suddenly end up as a fourth choice player before signing a long term deal, but I don't expect that will be a problem that materialises. 

1 minute ago, lraC said:

I guess with Sheff United, it could be what is the best thing not to pay, the players wages or the instalment on a transfer fee, owed for a player they signed.

Which ever way you look at it, they have taken on a liability they could not afford and should be faced with the consequences.

Agree. Assuming the reports are true then they should get their comeuppance one way or another. Sadly I think that'll only come if they fail to get promoted this season. 

19 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Did I see that the EFL have handed a 3 point deduction to Wigan this week?

Quick to hand those out, but the Sheffield United case rumbles on - funny that.

To be fair, I think Wigan have already missed a few deadlines for paying players this season. The quick charge has come through them already being on notice from the efl, and they've broken the agreement they had with them.

As good as his is, the only circumstances in which I'd take Van Hecke is if the money involved is ridiculously low. Someone will get a bargain, but we're so much better stocked at centre back than anywhere else on the pitch (apart from possibly in goal, ridiculously).

Something else worth considering is that whilst he was very impressive, he was also playing in a back three. I suspect that had he been playing in a four, then his ultra-positive approach to defending may have backfired a bit more when he didn't have two mates covering for him. 

If we have plans to play a back thee again - then that's a different story and a five of Van Hecke, Hyam, S. Wharton, Carter and Phillips would be the envy of the league. But if we're sticking to a back four, that's too much when we're struggling to get enough quality elsewhere in the squad.

Even if he is on a free (which I seriously doubt) he'll be on a half decent Championship wage. Not insignificant when we need to bring in a Brereton replacement AND another first team quality forward. 

45 minutes ago, Tugayisgod said:

JPVH looking increasingly likely to leave Brighton in the summer.

Didn't think I'd ever say this but are we as desperate for him as we maybe once were? Centre back not a priority for me even if Ayala leaves with Carter stepping up so well .

Striker (or two), CM and cover perhaps at LB the priorities, but doesn't need a complete overhaul this summer imo

Also JRC and Carter new contract after the news about Garrett today👍🫰

He'll be a top player for somebody, but it's the area of the pitch where we least need reinforcements. The only caveat is if JDT would prefer to go with three at the back. 

2 hours ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Leverkusen in the eufa cup under Hughes, they employed some right shit house tactics and I really wanted to beat them, sadly we could only muster a 0-0 at Ewood that knocked us out having lost the first game 3-2 

Should've picked up a result away too. One of the misses of our modern era from Jason Roberts who somehow managed to miss from about two yards out. 

2 hours ago, berkshireblue said:

Arriving tomorrow coinciding with son’s open day at the uni

Hope he likes the look of the place. Declaring an interest slightly as I work at the uni - but it's a great city to be a student in. 

10 hours ago, bboy said:

Theoretical question.

 

Would you rather finish 7th and make the semi final ( no guarantee how we progress after) 

Finish 6th and lose Sunday. (No guarantee how we perform in playoffs.)

 

Excellent question.

I'd take an F.A. cup win over promotion, without a shadow of a doubt. Would I take a semi-final where we would likely be massive underdogs over a realistic chance of promotion? Probably not. 

1 hour ago, jim mk2 said:

Five years is too long for the club and the player. Nothing is permanent in football and both need more flexibility. Three years maximum. He’s still not my favourite player to be honest and there’s still a lot of weaknesses in his game. If we do somehow get back in the Premier league he’d be one of the ones you’d be looking to replace

Not completely disagreeing - I think four years would be more sensible. My point was mainly that we don't need to worry about him not keeping on his toes if we gave him a long contract, like Henley. 

There is an issue about where his ceiling is, and how much more improvement there is left in him. I've said before that I worry about his size, and that he'll really have to go some to compensate for being so small. To be fair to him though, he is being more productive when on the pitch this season, so I'm happy enough with his progress. 

On 13/03/2023 at 19:33, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I wouldn’t offer him a five year one that’s for sure. That’d be crazy. Look at Henley, lots of big clubs were looking at him apparently - he’s at Chorley now by all accounts.

That's true, big error in retrospect, for us and probably him too.

I don't see the two as quite the same though. Henley got a five year deal (supposedly on about 12k a week) as a 17 year old after two good games against Liverpool & United. Dolan would be getting one as a 21 yr old after 100 appearances. If Dolan signs a five year deal I'd be pretty happy to be honest. 

Not going to go game by game, but I think we'll need to break the back of the points total that we'll need by the PNE game. I wouldn't like to go into back-to-back derbies, Luton and then Millwall needing more than 3/4 points.

After last night I think we're just about more likely to do it than not, but it's a close run thing. All the games are big from here on in, but that Norwich game in a few weeks looks like a huge opportunity for us to put some daylight between us. 

Biggest complement I can give him is that he keeps the shirt when Dack gets back fit. 

If you would've told me a few months ago that i) Dack would get back near his goalscoring best but that ii) Szmodics would still deserve to get picked in front of him, I wouldn't have believed you.

17 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Of course managers should get cut slack depending on the circumstance of the club at that time.

But I’ve never known such a middling manager get such an easy ride from fans over such a long period of time. 

JDT is certainly not getting such a luxury after only months in situ.
 

Did he though? Let's not forget that most of our worst spells happened during Covid, and by the time the fans could come back properly, we looked like we had a half decent chance of at least getting a play off spot.

I'm sure there was a poll on here a couple of seasons back which asked if people wanted either or both of Mowbray & Waggott out, and it was literally 90-95% who wanted him gone. Obviously that's not going to be representative of all match going fans, but playing behind closed doors definitely helped shield him from any fan reaction when we were at our worst. 

57 minutes ago, ben_the_beast said:

I think Mowbray is a decent but flawed person, like most people in the world. Mowbray played a big part in Rovers history leading us out of league 1 at the first opportunity. I'll be forever grateful for that.

His last two seasons were weird. Some atrocious runs and some big highs. He shouldn't have survived all of that in what is an unbelievably cut throat industry. But he did thanks to his job being bulletproof under Venkys lack of leadership, which led to his biggest character flaws being there for all to see. He can't stand criticism, gets very defensive and quite insular, cutting himself off to protect his fragile ego. A lot of people do this. It doesn't make him a bad bloke, but it's the last thing you want from a leader and it also makes critical self reflection difficult.

As a result his teams will always see major dips in form. Its nice to no longer have to listen to his endless waffle and excuses, but he did turn around a dying club, so I wish him the best. 

JDT is a different gravy as a leader. I just hope that tactically, he can continue to progress both in himself and for us as a team.

Very close to how I see it. By the end it was the right call for him to go. People rightly talk about the horrible form we went on from a great position last season, but it was actually the season before which changed things for me. That was the season where our squad was good enough to really have a go for the top 6, and we fell woefully short. Slightly unlucky with the injuries we picked up at centre back, but that only goes so far as an excuse. He rightly got some more credit in the bank after the unexpectedly excellent form before Christmas last year, but then the inevitable slump just felt all the worse after it. The best manager we had since Big Sam, but then again that isn't saying much at all!

On JDT, I still think that there are a couple of question marks but overall I'm really excited to see what he can do with a full summer. He was always playing catch up this season, but he'll know exactly what we need to be competitive next year. 

12 minutes ago, RoversClitheroe said:

Good god.

How isn't this game Must Win? 

What's happened to our fans? Where's the ambition?

Reading absolutely riddled by injury and looking to not get relegated? Yet not must win?

I think it's just the phrase being used differently. It's not must win in the sense of if we lose, that's effectively the season done. 

But yes, this looks on paper the most winnable game that we have left, and we probably need to win about half of our remaining games, so it's 100% one that we should be taking to the bank. 

50 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

The XG-isation of football fans these past few years is such a strange  phenomenon. So many have lost their ability to use their eyes to judge footballers and teams.

We are *bottom* of the XG league as we eye up an outside chance of automatic promotion… say no more.

I think it definitely has it's uses, but the tendency for some fans (often who don't have much of a clue of how it's put together) use it as a proxy for 'were we the best team or not?' without questioning it is really annoying.

When you get a situation like ours when xG has us as relegation fodder and the results show that we could get promoted, the response is always 'they must've fluked their position' instead of asking if there is something about the way that we play which means that xG isn't capturing our performance as well as it seems to do for other teams? Instead it's treated as this magic formula which measures whether you deserved to win or not (although I'm sure that clubs themselves won't look at it in that way). 

It's probably a bit of both in our case, because we weren't that fantastic before Christmas even though we were riding high. But equally how many games have we won this year when the opposition would've come away thinking that we've done a smash and grab on them? Only a few. The games where we've been poor, we've tended to get beat. 

9 minutes ago, roverandout said:

I know this is a left field post but I read somewhere that Russell Martin compares his playing style and has been quoted that he lends his style off Barcelona and the great 08' 12 Spain side. He really is a deluded twat.  Delusions  of grandeur come to mind

To be fair, that's exactly what he's trying to do. 

It just so happens that instead of having a team full of generational talents, he has a squad full of average second division players. It must be so frustrating for their fans seeing their team dominate the ball every game without doing anything with it. 

Happy to echo the praise for Gally over the recent weeks, but we shouldn't forget that lots of his very forgettable performances this year have come as a centre forward. 

He has real strengths which he has showcased well over the last few games, but he also has two or three serious flaws which hamper him as a centre forward as much as they did when he was playing further wide. 

It has been good to see him be more of a handful for defenders though. If he can keep that up and chip in with another 5 goals before the end of the season, he'll have contributed very well.

1 hour ago, AllRoverAsia said:

ByWe are made of stronger stuff these days and will give Stoke a stern test.

I expect a low scoring win to Rovers but it could easily be a 0-0 or 1-1.

There has been a shortage of goals in our meetings with Stoke for quite a few years. 

Yes, certainly since the 3-2 win there in the first year after promotion.

Absolutely mad game which summed up the good and the bad of a Mowbray team in 90 minutes. 3-0 up and cruising and by the end of the game we were seriously lucky to come away with the three points.

On reflection, we've actually got a decent record there over recent years. 3 wins out of the last 4. 

12 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

We're playing really well at the moment, but that we seem to win despite creating lower quality chances than the opposition is a continuing head-f***.  There's very few games all season, including Sheff Utd on Saturday, where our xG has been higher than the opposition. I think that's where the reticence to get behind JDT comes from it doesn't quite stack up and gives the feeling of a "false position".

It's weird as you'd think it would eventually catch up with us, but it hasn't. 

Maybe it's just we are absolutely shit hot at last ditch defending? It's been 35 games now so that's long enough to say it's not a blip, we must be doing something right. 

This table is absolutely crackers : https://footystats.org/england/championship/xg

Crackers indeed.

I think one thing which is an important factor is that we take a very old-school Italian approach to protecting a one goal lead. Scoring the first goal then shutting up shop is something we've done plenty of this season, but that's always going to harm the number of chances you create per 90 compared to teams who don't do that. 

Having said that, I think the position that we were in just before the World Cup did flatter us pretty significantly. Equally, our form over recent weeks I think shows more that we're capable of being one of the better sides in the division when it all clicks, so hopefully we can cash in on our slightly fortunate first few months!