27 minutes ago, matt83 said:

A couple of our mates went to Cardiff uni so they knew the city inside out so a load of us went down for the weekend. They’d allocated all the shit pubs to rovers fans and all the decent pubs to spurs fans (typical and mildly irritating). So the night before we exclusively spent time with spurs fans and you’re right the arrogance was astounding. Like we were there for a day out and they were there to win.

League form was iffy and few injuries but I was adamant we were the better side and we were going to win (even as a pessimist) but they were acting as though it was the equivalent of the citeh of today playing Chorley. Weird. Can’t recall but we may well have finished above them in the league that season, either way it was far closer than any one that I spoke to would admit. 

I've just had a look to jog my memory - we finished one place below them but we were still in the top half and finished with a better goal difference. To be fair to them, we had a ridiculously good last few months and still finished below them, so I can half understand why they wouldn't rate us too highly when we were still firmly in a relegation battle & on shocking league form. Other than maybe Cole and Berg, a lot of them wouldn't have had the faintest notion of how good some of our players actually were, especially seeing as some of them were a part of a relegated team a couple of years earlier.

There would've been some sour grapes after the game with Brad being on such inspired form that day, but they would've finally recognised how good we were 12 months later when we secured a top 6 finish by pumping them 4-0 at White Hart Lane. 

1 minute ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

We simply must not offer him a new deal. Great defender on his day, but he can’t ever stay fit. I really hope we don’t do anything silly - it’s time to let him head back to his homeland. 

Agree. I'm pleased that he's actually managed to show what he can do a bit after his disaster of a first season, but it's not enough if he is still missing about half of our games. 

If we were otherwise struggling for centre halves then I would've been tempted to see if he would re-sign on a reduced deal, but we're pretty well stocked in that department now. We'll need at least one forward for the first XI for next season, so the money we'd save on his contract is much better spent there. 

Ayala out for 8 weeks, according to JDT.

Not inconceivable that we've seen the last of him in a Rovers shirt. 

4 minutes ago, Gav said:

We should have won at Sheff Utd, played well on the night, but injuries and fatigue started to kick in around that time and we didn't have the squad to handle it.  

I think the same will happen again, I hope not, but you can see it coming.

QPR 1 Rovers 1

We should've won against Swansea too. Created some sublime chances that we conspired to miss. 

I don't think we'll tail off as badly as we did last year, but equally we still need to show play-off form between now and the season's end to reach the 70-odd points that we'll need. It'll probably be too much for us. 

2 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

A pass to the unmarked Vale for a tap in was the right finish.

That's what I thought in real time, but looking at the replay I don't think it's quite as cut and dry as that. Vale's in a bit of space but he has four defenders who aren't that far away when Morton takes the shot. He didn't have too much room for error with the cut-back, so I don't blame him for taking the shot on.

Missing the chance was worse than the decision making for me. 

As bad as our injuries are just now, they seem to be in the same boat. Arguably even worse. Chris Willock, Clarke-Salter, Tyler Roberts, Dykes and Ethan Laird all out last weekend. Most of those are key players too. 

They'll be well up for this one with the new manager, but their squad isn't great and they'll still be fragile after being on such poor form.

Going for a rare second goal for the Rovers in a 0-2 win.

2 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

On an unrelated note -  I'd love to see a replay of Hedges' flick late in the game. What was he thinking then? Thomas crossed into the box and he tried to flick it back to Morton (I think) rather than just taking the shot on. Was he blocked from having a clear shot on goal?

All happened a bit quickly, but in real time I thought that he ran slightly past the ball by the time it reached him so would've needed to take another touch before getting the shot away. Could be wrong though. 

2 hours ago, booth said:

People say he puts in the effort but I don't see it. When he was here on loan he was playing for a contract but since he got signed he gets a decent wedge every week and simply lacks desire and passion for the game. Earlier in the season someone pissed him off and he put in a decent performance, probably his only one.

I've seen bad strikers and they try but just can't hit the net. He rarely gets the opportunity because he doesn't seem interested most of the time.

He looked visibly pissed off at himself over that miss last night though.

I think it's just poor anticipation rather than lack of effort. I think he visibly puts a shift in, but he's no good at all at finding space in the box. Couple that with his often poor first touch, he is never going to be getting a hatful of chances. 

I think season shows that it was never going to be a case of 'play him centrally - problem solved', with Gallagher. He is a better player than he has shown recently, but at the same time he just has some fundamental flaws to his game that are always going to hold him back. 

They might've beat Stoke at the weekend, but it looks like they got out of jail a bit. One shot on target and 31% of the ball. 

I'd bring in JRC for this one. Harsh in the extreme on either Carter, Hyam or Ayala, depending who would make way for him. I'd keep Gally in the team too given our lack of other options. Hopefully he'll have far better service tonight than he did at the weekend.

Think this will be chalk and cheese compared to the Swansea game, but I can see the same result.

                  Pears 

JRC   Ayala Hyam Pickering

             Travis   Buckley

Thomas    Szmodic      Dolan 

                Gallagher

48 minutes ago, Hasta said:

I like Dolan but when you watch him enough though, you actually realise he's not very quick. There was a chance on Saturday to break near the end and yet the defender got back at him. He looks like he's fast, but actually isn't.

 

He's sharp over 10-15 yards, but over a longer distance he tends to get caught by more athletic players.

It speaks to the main problem he has to overcome if he wants to reach his potential, his size. Players as small as Dolan really have to go some to make up for that with serious ability and intelligence. I actually think he's making pretty good progress this season and I'm glad he's a Rovers player, but it's an uphill task for him. 

4 minutes ago, goozburger said:

Motherwell interested in loaning Markanday according to reports in Scotland.

I'd like Markanday to stay. He sounded like he wanted to stay and fight for a place in the team, which is healthy, tied in with him feeling as fit as he did before his injury.

Motherwell might not be the worst idea for 6 months. People tend to (slightly) underrate the SPL for me, but quality wise he should be getting regular game time and crucially, he'll get a steep learning curve in terms of what's required from physical, first team football. 

Just now, Ossydave said:

Looking like Dexter Lembikisa may be available on a loan, probably not a priority position now JRC is looking decent, how long is Brittain out for?

Was meant to be about 8-10 weeks I think - so still at least about a month away. 

The next four games present a massive opportunity. Rotherham, Bristol City, Blackpool and Wigan back to back is as kind a run as you get you're going to get in this league. 

Rovers being Rovers, we can't be counting our chickens too early. But if we have realistic play off aspirations, we should really be looking to pick up a good points return, hopefully starting on Saturday. 

6 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Not the only issue. Yes he has played well recently, but time will tell if it's a purple patch or if he has finally clicked. He doesn't exactly have a lot of credit in the bank. But yes I'm expecting him to break down imminently.

Might be being too generous, but I'm willing to put his less than impressive performances over the last couple of years down to his injury problems. He was never going to show much if he could only manage the odd appearance here and there before breaking down again.

Just now, Exiled_Rover said:

I still think Kaminski is a better all-round GK.

I was going to post something similar, to be honest. Partially because I rate TK very highly, partly because I still think Raya (for all of his quality) has an error in him.

Just now, Bethnal said:

Morton on instead of Wharton seems like a pointed message to the latter. Weird thing to hold a grudge against a teenager when you’re JDT’s age.

Isn't it just that we're holding onto a one goal lead and Morton is better without the ball?

1 minute ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’m not an expert on Norwich City but it doesn’t look like they aren’t playing their best 11.

5 changes, apparently. Gibson and Sargent rested.

Still a strong side though, they're bringing in Krul who despite being their back up keeper, is probably paid as well as anyone in our squad. 

5 minutes ago, BigBar said:

Those people weather they like to admit it or not were wrong...very very wrong.

Definitely - but it was a fair criticism that as a team, we were letting in far too many soft goals from crosses. You couldn't put all of that at Raya's door, obviously, but it was definitely an aspect of the game that he needed to work on. 

We didn't get enough money for him though, and replacing him with Walton for a season was a poor bit of business. 

14 minutes ago, BRFC_Polky said:

I’m hoping we have a sell-on clause for Raya.

It’s was £3m fee, plus the promotion bonus (£1m/£2m) and a sell-on clause would be around £6m/£7m all together?

Hopefully JDT gets the cash to use in the summer for a new striker. 

I'm fairly sure we do have a pretty decent sell on, actually. I forget how much exactly, but not a trivial %. 

Even with a year left on his contract I can't see him going for less than £20 million in the mad world which is modern football, so I'd say we'd be in line for a couple of million most likely.

31 minutes ago, J*B said:

I’ve changed my mind based on RoversChat first 11 prediction… they ‘predicted’ the same team as me yesterday, thus me posting the above, but are now saying Carter, Phillips, Wharton and Edun at the back today. Which is a big change. 

I hope that your original team is at least slightly off, in that I really don't want to see Brereton starting. First XI players elsewhere by all means, but he's the player (with Ayala for different reasons) I'd wrap in cotton wool. 

I hope you're right about Dack playing though. I know you shouldn't push your luck with players who are coming back from such bad injuries, but equally he's needs consecutive games to have a chance of getting back to the level that he was once capable of. 

15 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

I'd got for Armstrong on loan too. It's obviously not worked out for him at Soton, the team is struggling and he's still not playing as far as I'm aware. He must be champing at the bit to get back playing first team football and scoring goals again and we know he loves Rovers. Not the big, ugly bruising CF I think we need but he'd be more of an asset than Gallagher, Hirst and the the others

Sadly, I don't think we've got a chance of that happening. He's not starting, but he tends to come off the bench plenty, so they won't be letting him go unless they bring in other options first, I imagine. 

Even if they do, it'll probably be to whoever can stump up the most wages, so I think a few other Championship clubs will be in front of us in the queue. This is all before whether Armstrong himself would be open to coming back. 

20 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

I agree but there are replacements if he goes was what I was saying.  JCH is quality mate, if you think 28 is aged then you've a problem.  Hardie gets goals and assists and would be perfect for us, nothing like Rhodes

Poor response Joe, with you being a scout supposedly....both very good players

Must admit that my view of JCH was pretty heavily influenced by his record at the start of last season. There was a decent spell where he couldn't hit a barn door, so ending up with double figures in a relegated team is not a bad return at all, and surprised me a bit. 

I still wouldn't advocate him as a BBD replacement though. 

31 minutes ago, JoeH said:

JCH is ageing and Hardie is a Jordan Rhodes type. There's no value in selling BBD because A) We won't reinvest the money B] Even if we could, we aren't going to get someone as good as him C) We could still reach the play offs this season, but without him it's extremely unlikely.

I think C is the clincher. Were we looking nailed on to finish midtable, there's still a decent case to sell even if most of the money just goes towards the balance sheet. As it is, we're probably about 8 wins or so (with a few draws thrown in) away from securing a play off spot, and you just can't see us getting that without Brereton. 

10 minutes ago, Tugayisgod said:

Hirst off to Ipswich ?

https://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/1161238980?-11198:839

Probably best for all parties. I'm sure there's a player there which is much, much better than what he's shown so far, but how can we justify giving him the run of games that he probably needs based on his performances so far?

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

I still can't fathom the attitude of "skipping" the cup, I can get on board with some rotation as long as it isn't the whole team but especially considering how people always say this to prioritise the league and then our seasons fizzle out anyway, can lots of harm come from a couple of extra cup games and a bit of extra excitement?

I would like a mixed team in that some players will need resting more than others and some will need a game that will be needed going forward but equally I want to go through, I want to keep some momentum and there is a week either side so a total lack of game time might prove counter productive.

I want to avoid giving the likes of Edun, Vale, Mola and Hirst game time when they are all so poor, none of them should be here (temporarily perhaps in Vale's case) come 1st Feb.

Something like:

Kaminski

Carter Phillips Wharton Pickering

Travis A Wharton

Markanday Szmodics Hedges

Gallagher

Equally happy with Hyam next to Wharton and also Brereton in should Szmodics not be fit.

Very close to the team that I would play, but I'd have Dolan in one way or another. Still a fair distance from the finished article, but he's been quietly productive when on the pitch this season. Deserves to play in games like this one.