Atko's Engine

I remember a few on here waxing lyrical about Stoke's transfer business. There was 5 announced in 1 day and many thought 3/4 of them would be solid Championship signings. Plus the fact of signing 5 in a day was held up as the way to do business. Meanwhile at that point I think we'd signed 2 freebies in Downing & Johnson. It's early days yet of course but I think I know where I'd rather be right now. Just goes to show that this is an impossible league to predict. On 1st August we would probably all have taken 6 points from 4 games plus a cup win with 2 or 3 solid performances and 2 clean sheets amongst it, so we're about where we would have expected to be. Let's just stay calm, not get too giddy over a win or throw toys out after a defeat. We have a matchday squad that is at least as strong as last season when compared to our competitors, with added nouse and game management ability, more in-game options & whilst youth is being blooded. That should be enough to turn some of last season's draws into wins & defeats into draws, so if (I accept it's a reasonably sizable if) we can perform consistently at our expected level then we have a good chance to be in the mix come March / April.

Those at Hull, what are refreshment prices, variety & quality like? Good or not compared to Ewood?

I'm going for a Rovers win, it'll be tight but I think Saturday will have given the team a real shot in the arm. Hull have some good players who we'll have to watch (Bowen & Grosicki) but if we can nullify them then we can get at their back line. They'll see this - rightly - as winnable, so if we stay tight and use the ball effectively and with pace we can hurt them on the counter. I'd start with Rothwell & Arma in place of Downing & Gallagher; I think the pace of those two will suit us away and I think Downing's guile & Gallagher's physicality / height will be better served versus Cardiff. Plus, Downing has already played nearly 2 full games in a week, having had a short pre season & not many games towards the end at Boro. I'd stick with DG & BD up front, with Gallagher & Brereton on the bench. I'd love to keep Travis & Johnson together but feel Evans may be preferred over Johnson for similar reasons to Gallagher, as his graft against Cardiff will be needed. Evans had a good game at Hull last season iirc, and being a former club he'll hopefully be a bit more up for it than he often is. Back 5 picks itself with Tosin out & Bennett being captain. Unless he plays Bennett at CM alongside Travis & brings Nyambe in at right back... But I doubt it!! Hull 1 Rovers 2

On the one hand a new name, with new / fresh ideas, might have been beneficial, but on the other hand if something's not broken don't try and fix it. Johnson deserved a promotion, and continuity and stability are not to be sniffed at. I'm also pleased that TM was involved in the decision; it shows a clear pathway to the first team and encourages ambition. Although I'd still like to know who else applied, clearly both Barr & Sheron have worked well within the Academy; they know the players and seem to have their respect. Tonight's performance (cheers for the link guys) suggests they can at least hold their own at this level once more this season despite the promotion of Johnson & Buckley to the regular first team set up & the departure of Nuttall. Good luck all, good start tonight, onwards & upwards.

Must be classed as an exciting opportunity for an up & coming or established youth coach (internally or externally), given the facilities, funding & crop of U23 & Academy talent we have coming through. Would love to lnow who applied & see the shortlist of who was interviewed. I bet there would be some interesting & surprising names on there.

That challenge was right in front of me in the Riverside; the determination he showed to get back in and defend like that was fantastic, and it was rightly given a standing ovation by many. Was just typical of his overall performance I felt, deffo a MOTM contender.

Really pleased with yesterday, it was far from perfect but it was all about showing desire & passion and above all getting 3 points. They did, they deserved it, and a clean sheet to boot. Everyone played their part. Bar one almost costly flap I thought Walton did well. Bar a couple of wayward passes, I thought Bennett had his best game a RB, defensively & offensively. Lenihan & Williams were excellent, let down only by their average distribution. Cunningham was solid, knows his role as a LB, I felt far more confident with him in that area of the park. Likes a tackle too. A definite upgrade. Downing was cultured, calm & composed, without being exciting. Stuck to what he knows and is good at, exactly what he was signed. Travis & Johnson look a great pairing. They're both mobile, tough, strong, offensively minded whilst savvy (cynical, in a good way) defensively, & Johnson is in the air. Another huge plus over last season. They will pick up suspensions though. Gallagher must be a Rovers fan, his effort & desire phenomenal, & offered Bennett great protection which I assume is why he stayed wide. He was a real handful for their RB throughout. His performance at Brentford on relegation day was excellent, and this was on a par but without the goal. Graham & Dack linked up well without tearing it up, both worked hard and clearly each one benefits from the other being in the team. A good if unspectacular showing. Cool as you like penno from Graham. I thought the subs didn't work as intended, Armstrong was not as effective as his pace was nullified by Boro not pushing up to high in search of a draw. Rothwell & Buckley were sound & showed good game management, Buckley should've worked the keeper after great play by Gallagher. Overall a confidence boosting win against a team that you'd expect we'd have to mix with if we're to push towards the playoffs. People sat they were poor, but they scored 3 goals in the first game and by all accounts should have beaten Brentford. They'll be there or thereabouts come the end of the season. I don't get this obsession with scoring goals from open play. I think I said this last season, but who cares? Whilst they're obviously nice to purr over, they don't count more in terms of points. It's our use of the ball in open play that leads to the free kicks, corners, penalties & own goals; that'll do me! Bring on Hull, a point or 3 there will do just grand. We have nothing to fear there.

He was totally inspirational to anyone. Rags to riches through honest hard work then giving something significant & tangible back to his hometown for the masses to enjoy. RIP Mr Blackburn (Rovers). Hope the club mark the anniversary of his passing appropriately at the game today.

I think Berg & Appleton might disagree Stuart. It's daft sacking managers 3 games into a season, end of. Hudds caused their own problems on this one as Siewert should never have been appointed in the first place, or he should have been sacked in the summer.

Mercer needs to find a new bet now. Maybe he'll go for Rovers to beat Boro by 3 or more goals today?! Whilst calling for Mowbray out of course! ?

Theres no point in TM mollycoddling young players and saying they're ready for the 1st team when, as Tuesday showed, many of them are not (at least consistently) despite their obvious talent & ability at U23 level. A bit of tough love can help keep their feet on the ground , though I accept there can be a fine line. He clearly rates them as prospects or he wouldn't be playing them after having watched many U23s games. I've not seen these comments he's meant to have made deriding the academy, but the evidence in the squad (not only his brooding of many U23 players but also the fact of not signing another CB indicates a belief on their ability to step in as cover when required this season. As for the new manager, I am very confident they will look to another young, progressive appointment in the Johnson mould in view of his success. I'm not sure how obvious or experienced he was as a candidate when he got the job, so whoever's comes in we'd be sensible not to judge a book by its cover. Theres clearly a good crop of players there and a good coaching staff to work with, so that should at least ensure that the quality of candidates is right up there.

A few of my of observations from comments & highlights. We cannot play Evans & Smallwood together ever again. One or both need shipping out by hook or by crook, with a "thanks for your service" in Smallwood's case and a "well that's been a waste of talent" in Evans' case. Grayson sounds the more promising of the two CBs, but made an awful error for Oldham's second goal. Boy we need to cut out individual schoolboy errors in defence. Cunningham sounds promising. Buckley is not ready for first team football, too lightweight. Downing needs not to play on the right. He looks like he's determined to succeed here though, his reaction to scoring was pleasing. Nyambe needs game time at RB to get his confidence, same with BB as striker who needs a fluke to get going. But its doubtful they'll get that without injuries to Bennett or Gallagher. Dack and Graham are immense for us, but i do agree with TM that we do need to find a way to move on from the "get it to Graham to knock down for Dack" approach, even though it worked again last night. We need more fluency, incisiveness & variety in our approach play. Rothwell & Chapman key to that. I don't think we can or should read too much into that game. Wholesale personnel changes (like most managers) render that pointless. But the never-give-up attitude is nice to see, people bemoaning a lack of late goals from us should be pleased. Other Champs teams struggled last night, we were not alone. And since time immemorial we've struggled in this type of game against inferior opposition. Think at home to Crewe Alex years ago or, even worse, Trelleborgs... (sorry to remind folk). We got the win; move on, huge game on Sat against a demoralised Boro, let's show our mettle against them & get 3 points.

I'm not sure ChrisPriceBaldSpot would agree with you there Paul!

That was a bad goal, I guess we lost it on half way. Who was the defender who stood off & let the guy get to the 18 yard box? And where was Leutweiler??

Sadly not, it's bath night for my daughters tonight and as I'm playing footy tomorrow night I couldn't get 2 passes in succession! I'll be there on Sat tho. Give 'em cheers from me, and enjoy those dregs!

Fans eh?! ?

Butterworth is injured I think.

I take it you're halfway through your pre match pint Stuart and bemoaning the fact that half of it has gone, rather than looking forward to the other half that's left?! ? A blend of youth and experience is what most managers look for in their team isn't it? Buckley can offer drive and spark can't he, and Downing the crosses? Shame I can't be there tonight but I'll be keeping a keen eye on things from deepest darkest Cheshire! COYB!!

TM certainly trusts his squad (as he should), as he'll be sure to want to avoid a bad result & is leaving himself open to huge criticism if his wholesale changes backfires. Quite brave really.

Nope, I won't. I'd say by then that we need to have around 5 wins and a couple of draws and to see good performances in order to be able to say he's on track & think positively about his performances & choices. 17 points from 12 games is near play-off challenging, so only slight improvements would be needed going forward from there to make us realistic top six material, be that through coaching or good use of the Jan window (learning from last season). If he's not in that ballpark, then he'll have little defence.

I'm afraid I disagree for reasons stated above. And although his back 4 against Charlton wasn't strong, the Boro game will likely see 3 different players to those, 2 of them through choice (Tosin & Cunningham). I would like to see Nyambe too rather than Bennett, which I do agree is a mistake on TM's part & something that may come back to haunt him.

Sorry Stuart how do you draw that conclusion from what I said? I've not said don't judge him or that he can't be sacked, I've just said don't do it 2 games into the new season. His L1 performance is there on record as being one of the best ever achieved in that division. But it is not something that is relevant to judging progress made this season compared to last. And his Championship record here overall is not abysmal, especially in the context of working at this club from the state it was in when he arrived. I'm sorry that's just hyperbole and wrong. I don't just have the stats right now but in his 3 months or so pre-relegation i think our points per game haul improved to near play-off requirements if stretched across a full season, and last season we finished with a comfortable 60 points. Of course we could say we wanted more, or that we should have got more with better game management (hence the more game-savvy experienced players brought in this summer), but in neither case can it be described as abysmal. Like I said, he is trying to change things, and deserves the chance to see the fruits of his efforts sink or swim. Certainly longer than 2 games this season. Edit: beaten to it by Pail Mani!

But this season is a different one to last season, so they cannot be fairly compared. There are 6 different 'unknown' opponents (2 of which we've already played), 6 new first 11 players to integrate, a more possession based game being attempted (which most on here agreed was necessary to progress), & some fairly significant new rules to adapt to. I'm not making excuses, just stating the facts. I'm also not saying forget the bad run, but neither should we forget the very good runs that came before & afterwards. We should learn from them. But I am saying that if anyone (not just TM) is to be judged fairly then it needs to be on a level playing field. Conflating last season with this season is not comparing like for like. He is trying to change things on & off the pitch from the disorganised shambles this club was when he arrived. He's trying to advance the club on & off the field in a climate of unpredictable ownership & restless natives as a consequence. It's no easy task, hence he deserves the chance of a dozen games to see his ideas & transfer activity put into action. IMO.

I agree Alejandro! I would put a strong team out at first off though TM has already said that this is a chance for previous non-starter to make an impression. That said, on paper we should certainly have enough for a comfortable victory across out squad, but we know it often never turns out that way!

Everyone in football looks at fixtures and attempts to predict which will be the tough games & which will be easier, that's happened for as long as the game has existed. Of course that's only an exercise on paper and any given game can veer from the expected narrative at any time for a litany of reasons. However those reasons tend to even themselves out over an extended period of time, hence why I think 12 games (consisting of a mixture of perceived 'hard', 'winnable' & 'easy' games) is a decent timescale which allows for the quirks & anomalies of one or more individual games to be less noticeable when viewed in the wider context. Hence why I think making a judgment call on Mowbray 2 games into this season is unfair.