KentExile

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/25017665.blackburn-rovers-beaten-bolton-wanderers-lfa-youth-cup-semi/ Rovers’ youngsters missed out on a place in the LFA Professional Youth Cup final following a late 3-2 defeat against Bolton Wanderers. Valentin Joseph and Joseph Boggan both got on the scoresheet during an entertaining second half at Brockhall. But the visitors netted twice in the last 10 minutes to set up a final against Blackpool, who overcame Burnley on penalties in their last four tie. Bolton started brightly and Connor Lewis sent an effort over the bar after some good work by David Abimbola. Rovers’ fight sight of goal came from Frank Vare’s free kick but the midfielder, who has been around the senior squad at times this season, saw his strike fly over. Abimbola continued to cause problems and thought he had opened the scoring from close range, but a Rovers defender made a crucial block. The towering striker also delivered a dangerous ball across the face of goal after using his strength to get down the left, but nobody gambled at the far post. The opener came when Daeshon Lawrence picked out the bottom corner with a low drive from the edge of the area. Jamie Grayson had a chance to double the lead but couldn’t convert at the far post after getting on the end of a corner. Harrison Rice also saw a header clip the top of the crossbar as Lewis’ deliveries caused problems. Rovers didn’t have many chances in the first half but nearly got back on level terms minutes before the break when George Barlow made an impressive save to deny Joseph Boggan. The hosts improved in the second half and Nathan Dlamini forced Barlow into another smart stop at his near post after a mazy run. The equaliser came after more good play by Dlamini down the left. The visitors failed to clear his cross and Valentin Joseph pounced to slot home. Bolton had a big chance to regain the lead when Lewis seized a sloppy backpass but Blake Wolsoncroft made a good block. Moments later at the other end, Rovers were awarded a penalty and Boggan kept his cool to send Barlow the wrong way from the spot. The tie had turned on its head but Bolton got back level 10 minutes from time when Wolsoncroft couldn’t keep hold of a cross from the left and Lewis reacted quickest to prod home. There was one final twist in the tale as Leigh collected the ball on the edge of the box, beat his man with a clever turn and fired into the bottom corner. Lewis had a chance to wrap up the result in stoppage time but dragged an effort wide of the near post after Corey Nuttall had won back possession high up the pitch. Tobias Ritchie also tried an audacious effort from near the halfway line, but Wolsoncroft was relieved to see the ball drop just wide of the post. Rovers applied plenty of pressure in the final stages but couldn’t find a breakthrough, with Bolton defending resiliently to get over the line. Rovers: Wolsoncroft, McIlroy, Pates, Davies, Eze, Vare, Dlamini, Mansbridge, Potter, Boggan. Subs: Decandia, Thompson, Kelley-Quinn, Shaw, Sandhu. Bolton: Barlow, Taylor, Oliver, Grayson, Rice, Smith, Irwin, Mawditt, Abimbola, C Lewis, Lawrence. Subs: Kendrick, Lomax, Leigh, Nuttall, Ritchie, Thomas, L Lewis.

U18s lost 1-0, Sergeant went off with an injury late in the first half. It would seem that Rovers did name 5 subs on the bench, but neither Google nor the Premier League seems to know the names of 2 of them, despite the 2 unnamed players both getting on the pitch

Not sure what he has done since playing that game at Huddersfield (or before then to be honest), but he was playing for Huddersfield on trial in late February. Played against Preston B on the 25th Feb

That was one of the stranger contract renewals ever given out, not quite Ben Gladwin levels, but right up there. The only thing that would make any sense was that Rovers originally had an even lower budget than what we ended up with, and Saadi was going to be a squad option, before someone decided that a pound & a Mars bar wasn't quite a big enough budget and that they should maybe throw in a bag of marbles & a half smoked cigarette too

Shorrocks has definitely played at least one game on trial at Huddersfield

Not seen anything stating he was released, He has been fairly regular for the U18s this season (14 appearances, which given the player with the most appearances has 19, doesn't sound like someone who would be released) He also came off the bench for the U21s about a month ago, so would be even stranger if so

Only 3 players named on the bench for the U18s today, and a schoolboy in the team who has not featured so far this season, maybe we are running out of players? (injuries which have not been disclosed etc)

Not sure what stats you are looking at, our lot are getting hammered, but 3 shots on target according to these

Starts this weekend for O'Riordan - drew 1-1 - scored the opening goal - subbed off with 20 minutes to go with the score at 1-0, injured according to BBC Duru - drew 2-2 - withdrawn early in the second half whilst 2-0 down Batty - drew 1-1 - withdrawn after 72 minutes whilst winning 1-0 Olson - lost 2-1 - withdrawn after an hour with the score at 0-0 (first game back after injury) Montgomery - lost 2-1 - loan has been extended until the end pf the season Eastham - lost 1-0 Barrett - drew 1-1 Honor - won 3-0 On the bench Markanday - won 2-1 Garrett - won 1-0 - was a very late sub Saadi - drew 1-1 Not involved in matchday squad Vale - drew 2-2 - currently injured Goddard - won 1-0 - currently injured Mafoumbi - lost 2-1

U21s lost 4-0 away at Spurs this evening preview U18s are at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday, Alfie McIlroy (schoolboy centre back) is in the team at right back, and only 3 players named on the bench score/update

and the very same graphic shows that Cantwell is even more ineffective

Check your country can view it, there is a big list that cant tonight If you can then its https://www.rovers.co.uk/match/first-team/2024-25/g2450584 If you have a VPN, Italy is lovely this time of year

personally see it as being either Pears Carter Sanderson Hyam Brittain Travis Forshaw Ribeiro Dolan Cantwell Gueye or Pears Carter Sanderson Hyam Brittain Travis Forshaw Ribeiro Cantwell Dolan Gueye Possibly a combination of both, Dolan and Gueye pressing when out of possession and Dolan dropping back when in possession to try and add numbers to the midfield

Doesn't particularly look like he fills the goal, and seems to be the weaker of the 3 who are in & around his age group (Michalski & Sol Honor being the other two) Kahn's contract does expire in the summer (although Rovers hold a year option). Honor's expires in 2026 (again with a years option), and Michalski 2027, which presumably shows how the club rate each of those 3 in comparison to each other

Just to clarify, I was not making excuses for them. It is a diabolical result. The majority of my previous post was posted before the game, I added the single line about the result after the game

Starts this evening for Batty - won 5-0 Montgomery - lot 3-0 - final game for Chorley unless his loan is extended On the bench - Not involved in matchday squad Olson - lot 3-0 - currently injured

Pretty youthful U21s team for PL cup game vs Charlton. 4 players start who still qualify for U18s, and another 3 on the bench. Given that they lost 7-0, this was probably not the most sensible choice https://x.com/academy_brfc/status/1899522366977307010

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics 😉 I tried to post the twitter link, but for some reason it is not embedding I note that the above is only for inside the box saves, so presumably shows keepers who are often beaten from longer range in a much better light than they may deserve

He might know the Polish lower leagues 😉

Never easy to tell with Rovers, if rumours were true of a power struggle between Park & either Gestede &/or Owen when he was Head of Recruitment, it may make some sense to employ someone with less seniority (Senior scout rather than a "head of" or "chief of" etc"). I may be putting 2 + 2 together to get 5 here, but also interesting to note that both Owen and Sadowski have worked in the past for Lech Poznan in Poland, albeit at different times

Not sure if this has been mentioned but we have a new "Senior Scout" I am not sure if this is the much awaited "Chief Scout" to replace Park under a new title, or not Normally you would look at someone who spent 7 years working for Man Utd as being a positive, but looking at their recent transfer business, I am not sure that is the case anymore Either way, I look forwards to seeing him leave for better things in late May

U18s could only draw 1-1 with 10 man, bottom of the table Leeds

This weekends games Starts this weekend for Duru - won 2-0 - scored the opening goal - replaced for the last 20 minutes - former Rover Sam Barnes finally made his debut O'Riordan - drew 1-1 - scored the equaliser Montgomery - won 3-2 - loan due to expire on Wednesday, I wonder if it will be extended as he has started for them when he has been fit. If not, his last game for Chorley could be Tuesday Eastham - drew 1-1 Barrett - won 4-1 Honor - won 4-0 Saadi - drew 0-0 - withdrawn in the 89th minute with the score at 0-0 On the bench Garrett - won 2-1 Batty - lost 2-0 - came on for the second half - recently been injured Not involved in matchday squad Markanday - lost 2-1 - cannot find why he was not included, but will update when I see something Olson - lost 2-1 - currently injured Goddard - lost 2-1 - currently injured Mafoumbi - won 3-1 No game this weekend Vale - next due to play 15th March - has missed the last few games with injury Earlier this week Starts for Markanday - lost 1-0 - withdrawn after 67 minutes with the score at 1-0 Duru - won 2-1 O'Riordan - lost 4-1 On the bench Garrett - drew 1-1 - subbed on after 65 minutes with the score at 1-0 Batty - won 2-0 - subbed on after 78 minutes has recently been injured Not involved in matchday squad Olson - won 2-1 - currently injured Goddard - lost 2-0 - currently injured

https://www.premierleague.com/premier-league-2-explained Those teams will be divided into five pots based on performances over the past three seasons. Fixtures will be determined by a draw made according to clubs’ positions in the five seeded pots. There will be 20 Matchweeks, with each team playing 20 regular-season matches throughout the season. Teams will play each club in their own seeding pot once, as well as three to five teams in all other pots either home or away. Results (three points for a win and one point for a draw) will generate a table ranking the 26 teams. After the regular season of 20 Matchweeks has completed, the top 16 teams will qualify for a single elimination playoff. Teams will be drawn against each other based on their league positions, for example the team finishing first facing the team that finished 16th. These will be one-off elimination matches with the higher-seeded team at home. In addition, the teams finishing the regular season in the top 12 will be invited to take part in the next season’s Premier League International Cup competition.

I will not be online much over the next week, but should anyone wish to check in on these, the below may be of use Tuesday 4th March (all 7:45pm) Markanday - score/update - game is on Sky Sport + O'Riordan - score/update - game is on Sky Sport + Garrett - score/update - game is on Sky Sport + Batty - score/update - game is on Sky Sport + Duru - score/update - has missed the last few games with injury - game is on Sky Sport + Olson - score/update - has missed the last few games with injury Goddard - score/update - has missed the last few games with injury Saturday 8th March (all 3pm) Markanday - score/update O'Riordan - score/update Garrett - score/update Batty - score/update Duru - score/update - has missed the last few games with injury Olson - score/update - has missed the last few games with injury Goddard - score/update - has missed the last few games with injury Montgomery - score/update - has missed the last few games with injury Eastham - score/update Barrett - score/update Honor - score/update Mafoumbi - score/update Sunday 9th March (5pm) Saadi - score/update No game this weekend Vale - next due to play 15th March - has missed the last few games with injury