On 01/08/2022 at 18:09, S8 & Blue said:

Bigging us up again on the BBC 6 o clock news, reporting from the training centre etc

Great publicity for our fantastic youth setup

Well worth watching on the iplayer, great little piece and definitely something the club should be crowing about loud & proud.

I really enjoyed what I watched of the Euros, inc the whole of the final. I felt the quality on show was really good, & the goal made at Rovers was top drawer.

Women's football really is going places, we should get right to the forefront of it & this is a great springboard.

Don't know much about either of today's signings but GB and JDT do seem to have a plan and some thought has gone into the benefits of each addition both in the short & medium term.

We've now brought in 2 perms with hopefully their best years ahead of them, who have decent (and recent) championship experience. They bump the average age up a little but still have plenty to give. I know both were in relegated teams last season, but most players have that on their CV's at some point so I'll not hold that against them.

Am interested to see how TM (mark II) and SS settle in, & who next follows them in through the door. Hopefully, those concerned about numbers & lack of funds are having their fears allayed somewhat. 

24 minutes ago, blue_n_white99 said:

As an alternative to Van Hecke, Van de berg looked alright for the knob enders, he's back at Anfield and ain't starting in front of their first 4 CBs

 

If we got them both, then we'd be motoring. 

11 minutes ago, rigger said:

I think the reason for not giving a second booking was that the ref took into account the first booking for Buckley. A Rovers player had actually been fouled by a QPR player, the ref allowed advantage then Buckley commited the foul for which he was booked, he also booked the QPR player for the initial foul. If the ref hadn't allowed play to continue, Buckley would never have had to make the foul that got him booked.

Totally. A much better explanation than my bumbling attempt above!!

Great to be back at Ewood today, though it certainly didn't feel like a July opening fixture!

Good to see Amstel on draft in the Riverside, good service & a lick of paint in the bar booth, and a new playlist for the season inc (love it or loathe it) classic track of thunderstruck!!

As for the game, it was a tentative opening half hour in which we eased ourselves into the game with some neat one-twos amongst the front 4. Nothing much to get the juices flowing besides a couple of midfield challenges that nearly resulted in a red for JB; the ref was clearly going to show a yellow until he realised it was Buckley. IMO the ref took sympathy on him as he realised the first booking was a little harsh, given that it came after he'd allowed a silly advantage moments earlier which we quickly lost & left Buckley exposed.

They hit the bar on 25, but then we started a bit if a head of steam. We perhaps went ahead alittke ubndeservedly given the balance of play up to that point, but what a strike, worthy of winning any match! I hope Trav doesn't keep trying to repeat that.....

Shortly after, a thunderbolt from BBD followed a nice move, which their keeper did we to react to, and we finished the half strongly. 

2nd half, besides TK having a wobble, we dominated the game & created some good half chances without really threatening to add to our lead. Most QPR attacks were snuffed out before they reached our defensive third, but not surprisingly we tired a little & could've done with a couple of pairs of fresh legs.

TK - 6 - didn't have much to do but looked solid & commanded his area well. One scary kick at start if 2nd half that could've proved costly. 

Brittain - 7 - solid debut, clearly has an attacking mindset but also did well defensively & stuck to his task well. Doesn't seem to know when he is beaten & didn't give up when he was passed.

Pickering - 5 - our poorest performer I think. Plenty of misplaced passes & showed no attacking impetus, esp in first half. His lack of pace was evident defensively too. We need an upgrade.

Ayala - 7 - solid, esp 2nd half. Composed, dealt with everything he needed too. Class at this level, when fit.

Wharton - 7 - great foil for Ayala, and played similarly competently. Will have tougher afternoons, but a very solid season opener.

Travis - 8 - did everything that Travis does, niggles, harries, frustrates, often unnoticed, but what a scorcher of a goal that certainly will get him noticed. I watched JDT celebrate  & he loved it!

Buckley - 7 - would've been 8 but for nearly getting sent off. I like to think he assured JDT at half time that he could trust him not to risk a 2nd booking, as 2nd half he was composed & at the beginning of most forward exploits. Will be a key player this season.

Hedges - 7 - worked v hard, has a decent footballing brain on him but didn't quite a come together for him.  Showed some neat touches & good interplay, and certainly suits a pressing game.

Vale - 6 - a decent full debut, showed some good touches & link up play but didn't really get an opportunity to show his best off. Deserves more game time.

BBD - 7 - epitomised Rovers generally as in a slow start but became more & more influential as the game wore on. Occupied QPR's defence well, drew fouls, linked up well with those around him. Definitely seems happy, but he needs to sign a new contract or move for a decent fee.

Gallagher - 5 - worked hard as always, but was generally ineffective & often clumsy in possession. I'm a fan of his overall, but this was the type of performance that his detractors could rightly point to as evidence that he should do better.

Dolan - 7 - was busy and at it from his introduction. Can't be easy to defend against when introduced an hour in. Drew fouls, harried & chased. Was a bit silly / naive to be caught needlesslt offside in the build up to BBD's disallowed goal.

Overall, a decent start and one which bodes well. New starters are needed no doubt as the squad is too thin, and there will be much tougher opponents than a surprisingly toothless QPR. But today showed to me that we have 13/14 players good enough to compete well in this division, certainly until the transfer window closes  which affords our new management & recruitment staff time to work on ensuring we get the right new arrivals in.

Nice to see JDT's enthusiasm, whilst also keeping it fairly low key. Nice touch to join the players at the end to applaud the crowd.

I'm quietly confident this could be the beginning of something that we can all buy into...

2 hours ago, Rogerb said:

Possibly more Phil Jones than Marlon Broome's. Outstanding talent.

Fair enough, but my point still stands that there's a risk & reward situation for the club to carefully balance, in terms of making sure that what's attractive to one player in Phillips  doesn't alienate half a dozen or more others.

On the Ash Phillips debate of do we pay him 3-4 times his current deal / the amount his peers are receiving due to his huge potential, isn't he effectively the modern day equivalent to Marlon Broomes? Wasn't he touted as future potential England captain material, when we were in the PL, for a long while? What happened to him?

Plenty of players early in their careers get touted as the next bobby Moore, the next Gascoigne (Makel), the next Shearer, yet go on & schieve nothing like that. I've never seen Phillips play so this us no sleight on him, but I can see why the club might not want to pay him as much as a top prem club can afford to piss down a drain.

Is it worth upsetting the other players so much, and is it best for Phillips' career? Too much money too soon? Surely it's better to try to persuade him for footballing reasons, pathway to the first team etc.?

12 minutes ago, J*B said:

Couldn’t agree more. Letting Lenihan, Nyambe and Rothwell leave on frees is going to financially burden us for years to come. On decent contracts we’ve let probably over 10M of assets leave for nothing, but don’t have 10M to replace them. Stupidity of the highest order. 

I agree, so why is GB getting such heat from quite a few on here against this background, none of which is of his doing? He's playing a massive game of catch up against our rivals, both in terms of timing and financially, as admitted by him on day one. 

Don't forget we also lost a newly recruited member of the analytics team in tragic circumstances; that's going to have an impact both emotionally and practically.

Let's get things in perspective here. Surely the bloke needs to be left alone t o do his job. 

25 minutes ago, SuperBrfc said:

Mercer wasn't talking rubbish.

I think he was when he stated "judgment begins on day one"!!  Proper Dickensian stuff that!!

And besides, isn't it true that the first thing GB did was approach JDT with the chance to be head coach here? I don't see that as a bad 1st box ticked so far, and probably the first bit of creative & progressive thing that's happened her since V's arrived!

Both GB and JDT were clear when they signed that promotion this season was not the direct aim. Just like it wasn't Jack's aim to win the title in 4 years. If it happens great, but in the longer term they mentioned than about stabilising the club, and making sustainable progress into bein a re-established Premier league club.

Most people on here welcomed that approach, recognising that undoing the damage done in the last decade would take time.  Now, barely a month in, GB in particular is getting pelters for not building Rome in a day, without a long: term recruitment officer!!

I just don't get it; let the man get on with his job quietly & efficiently behind the scenes. He's a doer, his record shows that, so imo he deserves a little faith & patience to let his actions do the talking across 2+ full transfer windows!

Way too much wailing & gnashing of teeth on here re Broughton & lack of signings to date, in my opinion. Of course I wish we'd made some by now, but it's essentially been 3 weeks since JDT did his 1st day of training, & 4 weeks since he & GB could've had any first meaningful conversation about what we might need in what positions, with what budget. Give them a chance!!

Some will point to Burnley as an example of how we could've moved quicker, but in comparison to us they've got money to burn from sales, and Kompany has been in line for the job since Dyche got binned off, with plenty of time to plan ahead & assess the squad before being appointed. 

I agree the club should've moved quicker for TM's replacement, but that's hardly the fault of GB or JDT.

The window has 7 weeks to go, plenty of time to get key bodies in, as perms or loans. I know that's 7 games into the season, but that wouldn't mean the end of our season. Remember, Forest were bottom in late October last season yet they went up, almost automatically

60 hour shifts Mercer?? That's harsh!!

2 hours ago, goozburger said:

On a general note, it was a great idea from Tomasson to have two 60 minute games. An hour is a good number to give to 22 players as a first friendly game. Think it should be done again next season.

Coleman seemed to appreciate it too, I agree it seems useful all round. It stops the players getting too leggy in the last 30, & gives more fringe players the chance to shine & make a mark.

9 hours ago, bigbrandjohn said:

Very interesting interview with “Coley.”

More interested in discussing the second game than the first and calling out individual players. 
 

It sounds like he assumed he would win the first game 🤔

 

So this was their second pre season outing when it was our first; not sure why that is but perhaps it accounts in some way for what was roundly considered to be a below par performance in the first game. 

35 minutes ago, Riverside under the drip said:

First game (majority senior) 0-1 loss. Booed by a couple in the stand. Very last season hit-and-hope. Diaz leagues ahead of the rest of the pitch.

Second game (majority kids) 2-0 win. Excellent entertainment. The sort of slick interplay you find in the warm-up routines.

Nothing like being patient!!

For the sake of clarity, I'm not there so thought I should caveat the above comments. I still think it's a valid assessment though.

6 minutes ago, matt83 said:

Could the Stanley players not say the same thing. Friendly or not this is shite. Yes it’s only a friendly but Jesus wept 

Not sure if this is their first game or not, but I'm still not bothered if it is. I'm sure (hope) they've been told just to ease themselves back in whilst trying to learn new tactical approaches from a whole new management team.

Really not bothered about anything other than gaining fitness & avoiding serious injuries. Niggles are inevitable.

Result & overall performance matters diddly squat. They've not played a match in over 2 months; I'm sure most of us would hardly be at our best on the first day of our return to work if we'd had 8 weeks away from the front line!

Tragic news for his family & friends. RIP

9 hours ago, Hasta said:

Which attaching midfielder or forward has been consistent?

Ben, Gally, Buckley, Dolan ? Nope. Common theme under Mowbray’s Rovers.

Buckley's good for attaching things...

Looking at the last 10 or so pages, the excitement of last week has well and truly worn off!

It's a poor position to be in no doubt, but I refuse to be too down about it as what's done is done. We still have many decent players at this level  and none of those who have left are irreplaceable. I want the club to look forward & learn lessons from the past; the appointments of GB & JDT look to be evidence of the start of that process. At least they have almost a blank canvas to develop exactly how they want. 

It's a real opportunity to reset the playing staff under a new & invigorated management team & develop a new identity that everyone can buy into.

I'm still excited about that next chapter, bring it on!!

I'm really quite stoked by these appointments, howsoever the club arrived at them. The proof will be in the pudding of course, but I think combined they show a real statement of intent.

They all come with good experience, recent success, wider experience of Europe, and specifically of a resurgent Scandinavian market. As the head coach, JDT is easily the highest profile appointment we've had since Hughes, and will make any prospective acquisition sit up and take notice of an approach from us (in the way that Mike Newell blanked us under Mackay, but u-turned when we returned with Dalglish at the helm).

I can't imagine even Venkys making such wholesale changes to the footballing structure of the club, only to then not provide the means or wherewithal for that management team to put their ideas and plans into action. That would just be nonsensical (I know, I know!!)

On a more tribal front, I THINK I'm happier with JDT & co than I would've been with Kompany. There seems to me to be more substance & thought gone into our move than Burnley's, which seems to be just appointing a big-name crowd pleaser who has the profile, but not necessarily proven that he has specific managerial nouse. I could be proven wrong & to large extent it's a minor subplot, but will be interesting to see how both imaginative & ambitious appointments, in different ways, play out...

Bring on 30th July!!

10 hours ago, rovers11 said:

I feel like it's gonna be a Henning Berg-esque appointment. Why can't we just go for a proven manager like Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest did rather than faffing about with left field choices. Those two clubs have shown what good managers who know what it takes to win matches in this league can do for a club. 

Forest had Hughton first, that failed badly. Many forest fans had doubts about Cooper but that worked spectacularly.

Boro had Pulis; that failed & Wilder hasn't worked yet either.

I like the ambition & imagination of a Broughton / JDT combo. It seems to indicate some joined up thinking at last.

It might not work (it might not even happen!) but if it does happen I'll be right behind it.

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

I’ve no opinion either way on their abilities, I’m not close enough to the sessions.

However, in the grand scheme of things they are minor employees in the club hierarchy, presumably with salaries to match said minor status, so it would be a very strange state of affairs to insist any incoming manager keeps them on, why hobble a potentially transformative appointment for a couple of lower ranked coaches… well, I suppose it would only be strange at a normal club.

They must have some ability about them though, surely? Like you and I, I doubt anyone on here has any direct knowledge of their abilities, their relationship with the players, the respect (or lack thereof) afforded to them by the players, to for them to be pilloried so much by folk on here when they're such small cogs in a bigger dysfunctional machine seems unfair to me.

I'm not saying there's no-one better out there, I'm sure there is. But I doubt their presence (insisted upon or not) would be a deal breaker for any new manager & DoF worth their salt...

Just my opinion as a passionate outside observer!