6 hours ago, ben_the_beast said:

Hyam, JPvH, Carter and Wharton. That's a beastly bunch of centre backs. With Brittain and JRC either side and Pickering as cover it's the best defense we'd have had in a decade.

I rate a fit and in form Ayala at least as highly as JPVH. We’ve got a decent amount of games out of him lately, so although he probably needs replacing we’ve had that cracking defence in the squad all season 

3 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Based on goals/assists per minutes on the pitch Dolan is doing an excellent job. 

KG?

I knew he was light on his feet but bloody hell

5 hours ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

To be fair, if Morton was one of ours then we wouldn't shut up about him. 

Hate to be a negative Nelly, but everything positive has been covered in the thread already…

But if Morton was “one of ours”, we would never have heard of him.

Comfortably the worst midfielder in the senior squad for me, don’t know what you see in the lad.

Very entertaining game. Ainsworth will have them roaring out of the blocks second half. It ain’t over yet.

But if we can keep scoring Barca 09 goals like that we’ll be reyt. Gorgeous from Travis, he’s been everywhere.

34 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Who's scoring the goals? I'd also argue you're probably playing a Boro / Watford / Norwich in there too.

Nice one. We've played them six times this season. 4 wins, 1 draw, 1 defeat

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

Well done to Bolton who beat Stanley last night to go through to the Papa Johns Trophy final at Wembley. I would have preferred Stanley to have won but hats off to Bolton who are also pushing for promotion to the Championship. Their success dispels the 'who would buy us' myth should Venkys leave. And the 'be another Bolton' excuse is blown out of the water.

Felt Stanley were robbed a bit with the McConville sending off. Was a bit soft, and then some dangerous play from the Bolton keeper that saw a lad stretchered off only received a seemingly reluctant yellow.

10 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Not buying this theory.  My view is that the lads at the back don't have it in the locker to find those incisive balls to beat a press.  Don't tell me there's nobody on, they choose not to pass forward....shithouse football a la Mogadon

It's both. I was frustrated first half, but Buckley improved and went looking for the ball a bit more rather than hiding. Ayala & Hyam can't play the ball forward as well as Carter & even Wharton. It was noticeable last night.

Can’t argue with the performance. A lot of heart and running with a sprinkling of quality from Travis, Szmodics, Brittain and Dolan in particular.

Defence steady against the predicted aerial bombardment.

But by god we need to practice our finishing. Should’ve been so much more comfortable.

Some bright spots. A good goal. Some frustrating play.

I think that the CBs lack of decent forward passing ability and the non-existent midfield is contributing to our poor attacking play because Thomas, Dolan, Szmodics etc are good players, we just can’t work the ball to them. Could lead us into trouble too.

Keep it simple and knock it long into the channels.

Buckley has had such a poor season though. Miles off it compared to last.

14 minutes ago, BournemouthFanGoEasy said:

I'll give my review tomorrow. I am sure it will be good, Blackpool are there for the taking surely? 

You'd think so. Not sure where we'll get a goal from though, and they'll be well up for it.

It would have to be a very "stodgy" win, but more likely a boring draw, or a dispiriting defeat.

Hopefully you bring us some luck and we dish out a 5-0 battering!

24 minutes ago, BournemouthFanGoEasy said:

Great, thanks for that. Will be lovely not having to walk up those away stairs 🥵

Apologies about the game in advance.

Maybe Jim’s a vampire?

13 minutes ago, belfast_rover said:

 

If we kept that £1.5m, would we be able to adequately replace him for that outlay alone ?

You'd think we could get a more conventional striker for that wage for a year tbh yes, loan or free agent.

But that would involve learning how to fill the forms in. Safer bet is to stick with BBD.

I don't understand why you are so against this.

It's a word. A word that is useful and has been used for decades.

If the club is badly managed and ticket prices have to go up - this affects you financially too.

I was trying to be nice, but the other person had it right with luddite I suppose. You don't like it because you don't understand it.

I watched back 20-30 minutes of the second half and had a thought that if we were on the receiving end of the periods of sustained pressure, pressing, and controlled possession that we had then, we'd be A ) Massively frustrated we weren't getting a kick & B ) Fairly impressed by the team we were playing. 

Hard to see the wood for the trees sometimes but we're not a bad side at all. Swansea ain't shit.

Need to start games better, be confident, and learn how to finish chances.

9 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Perhaps the BRFCS owners / administrators could tell us if there is a reference to stakeholders? It’s possible but it’s unlikely.  I thought we as messageboard users were “members” or is that too old fashioned and “Luddite”?

I honestly doubt if anyone who posts on here regard themselves as stakeholders in the same way as the vast majority of folk who attend matches do not see themselves as anything other than fans or supporters.

Language evolves but this smacks of American management/ corporate bullshit to me and I’m looking forward to the next away match already. “Shit ground, no stakeholders” 

Yeah right

It's been around as a widely recognised and useful business term for around 30 years at least. People just get confused between "shareholders" and "stakeholders", always have.

6 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Hirst not impressing at Ipswich apparently.

I just fell off my chair

9 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Why does everybody care so much about Chaddys opinion on everything? 
There’s loads of posters that have made an opinion, then when events unfold that opinion isn’t the reality, and they change their mind. That’s called life 

So what? It’s football and this is a messageboard - like all things social media you post your immediate thoughts 

Bloody hell, it’s like some of you have ever been wrong before. And it isn’t just on Dack it’s on every single damn thread and by the same half a dozen people 

It’s so fucking boring. You tell us not to read it but it’s literally every thread running at the moment. Find a new man to hassle

He has said now about 20 times that his opinion on Dack has changed. Move on 

He gets bullied to fuck. I know he talks shite, but we all do. A bit sad how people get off on having a go at him all the time.

2 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

Um, Morton? I mean I know Morton has not been great recently but for a while he was really decent. A lot better than Davenport ever managed. I doubt Morton will ever be released by Lincoln..

Never saw it myself with Morton. “Perhaps potentially adequate” rather than “really decent” imo. And that’s being kind.

9 minutes ago, bazza said:

I see Jacob Davenport was released by Lincoln City in January and is now a free agent.

I always liked him in the Rovers team but Mowbray wouldn't give him enough game time.

I hope he gets another chance (Bradford City?) in the near future.

Mad how Tyler Morton is probably sat on a contract worth 2-3m and Jacob Davenport is being released by Lincoln.

Know who I’d rather have.

Don't know why no one's tried a hosepipe on the sideline to soak the towels and ball every time it goes out.

Or a butter moat.

Yeovil at home.

We didn't give it a right good go.

1 hour ago, renrag said:

I know the club are not usually forthcoming in keeping fans in the loop, but I imagine in this case they are following legal advice. With a potential arbitration case coming up, I think it wise for them to keep their cards close to the chest

I personally imagine that we're being quiet because the club realises there's absolutely no way this transfer goes through. We've been refused twice I expect for it to go to arbitration and are now going through the motions to save some face.

I'm usually a positive chap in comparison to most of this board but I'm surprised so many of you still think this has a chance of happening at this stage and that a large part of it will be the EFL's fault if it doesn't - based solely on a heavily spun club-leaked Nixon story about the supposed finer details.

Stunned that the Topman sponsored gobshite Scott Parker is a Champions League manager.

Only second to Nathan Jones for how much his interviews get on me tits.

19 hours ago, bluebruce said:

I don't think football-loving local kids being inside these new facilities whilst we are playing a stone's throw away is a good idea. 

I assumed it would be to have a facility to use as a "base"/learning centre thing for the kids to use before and after the game? Difficult to keep 100s of kids happy, interested and safe on a concourse or outside around the ground. Somewhere to go waiting for the crowds to die down too for getting away etc