On 29/07/2023 at 11:01, Mattyblue said:

My opinion is that he’s going to leave on the back of his comments. ‘Reading between the lines’ and all that.

I don't think he's far away. 

I think he was honest but chose his words carefully in his interview though. By saying he was in the dark, he avoided naming names, whilst making it very clear that he wasn't happy. 

It didn't make his position untenable in the eyes of owners or directors. I interpreted as a clear demand for backing and the club to sort the mess out ASAP. Turning the pressure up a bit.

I thought Tronstad looked good. He'll put his foot in, shows for the ball and has a good first touch, covers the ground reasonably well and when he gets the ball he only take one or two touches whilst looking for a quick forward pass. 

I think we've signed a decent quality midfielder who will be an unsung hero. 

I was worried about him at first though. I was watching on a twitter stream and I loudly exclaimed at how bloody slow he was as I saw him running back during a Girona breakaway. He looked like a hunchback running in quicksand... Then I realised it was Harry Pickering 😂

I'm sure we'd all agree Leonard probably isn't ready to be leading the line for us, though I would have liked to have seen him be given more opportunities this season. 

He does seem to have good positional awareness so I think he'll grab a few goals. I more worry about games when we're pinned back. I think he might get bullied if left isolated. Especially considering our wide forwards aren't going to be doing much to support him. 

Aside from his goal against Girona the major positive was that he didn't seem to tire. Looks to have a good level of fitness about him. Patience will be needed with him, but I'm relatively hopeful.

5 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

I’m into an agreeable bottle of Malbec right now…

So that's what happened to the pictures 😂

Well done on today though. A great effort all round.

27 minutes ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Don’t tell rigger

I always appreciate his input. Its great to have a member of this message board who regularly watches the u21s. 

I've always found him very objective, including his opinion on Markanday. I also saw him post recently that he'd happily be wrong. It's not like he's Sparks/Bucko style vendetta. 

50 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

IF the world of football is all tied together that statement demands that it includes the women's game which contrary to your views does not sit outside any bubble.

This will turn out to be the most successful women's WC ever with the highest stadium and TV audiences ever. This will attract more sponsors to the women's game and it will continue to grow.

It is a totally different game to the mens in most facets of the game so it's never going to be everyone's cup of tea but there are a hell of a lot of females in this world of ours who are the primary target audience.

Up until a few years ago I had absolutely no interest in any women's sport but as my loves are football and cricket I looked at the women's game in these sports at the top level and like what I see. Skill, endeavour and committment and much less cheating and showboating 

You should at least watch England and the ex Rover girls. They are up against Haiti, who I've never seen play, on Saturday.

I'm not trying to discredit it.

The bubble analogy is because there will never be transfers between men's and womens teams. So it does sit outside of that bubble.

It's one of those things that the more it begins to develop, I'm sure my interest will increase. I find it difficult to be emotionally invested for one off games as I don't know the history. I've not seen players develop through their careers. I'm not anticipating whether a player lives up to their potential in the future. For me, seeing club level football in the women's game develop would give me more of that consistent interest. It is developing at a rapid pace which is great. Its not hooked me in yet. But I hope that development continues, and I'm more drawn to it in the future. 

19 hours ago, roverandout said:

Wish I found the women's world cup interesting but I just don't.  Maybe in 50 years the women's world cup will be as big as the men's 

I don't find it interesting either. I'm not going to get into the quality on show because I think it does a disservice to the women's game. Physical differences, investment, maturity of the game. Making comparisons is unfair and takes away from the opportunity for some to enjoy it, purely for the spectacle that it is. I also think these comparisons, many of which are pushed by the media create a hostile view from some about the women's game. Because objectively speaking, it's totally different and it actually creates factions where people are less inclined to watch and support.

The reason i can't get into it, is because it is so totally separate from what I've always loved. I can't think of any better analogy than to liken it to product ecosystems. You'll get some people who own every apple product and would never buy anything different because they are all compatible with each other. When I watch football, whatever the level, each team and player I'm watching, I'm always thinking about how they might develop, sometimes thinking how it could benefit Rovers or England, or even a whole bunch of foreign teams I've got a soft spot for.

The world of football is all tied together for me. So to have an aspect of the sport which sits outside that bubble is difficult to get into. I'm not trying to discredit the progression the women's game has made. If England progress I may watch a couple of the later games.

1 hour ago, Displaced Rover said:

We need someone on the ground at Brockhall to check JDT turns up for work today. Anyone got a bit of spare time?

Where's Vinjay when you need him?

1 hour ago, DanLad said:

Real life situations are not always straightforward. 

If the score is 6-0 does every second really need to be played?

The player leaving the field but was all a bit of a farce to start with (brought in for USA 94 ISTR). They'd didn't want players being treated on the pitch as it slowed the game down (which is a US gripe about football), so they had to leave the pitch for treatment. All sounds reasonable on paper. But, you don't know how injured the player is. It could be dangerous to move them. Treatment performed in the pitch anyway and turns out player is ok. They then have to perform the pointless pantomime of leaving the pitch and coming back on, which wasn't why the rule was brought in, but that seems to have been forgotten.

To provide a scenario. Rovers player down injured after bad tackle from Burnley player. Burnley player booked. Rovers player has to stay off pitch for 30 seconds (ordinarily the ref can show a bit of common sense and wave him back on immediately, but not under the new rules). Burnley score whilst playing against the 10 men. How is that fair?

Maybe change it so that player doesn't have to go off and/or stay off if he's been fouled?

If this is a measure to stop time wasting, I favour a 'ball in play' clock. 

Sorry to jump in and waffle on, but you've stumbled on to a pet peeve of mine!

 

It's difficult to find a balance. One thing for certain is that the current rules are being abused. It's become so ridiculous that I'd prefer the scenario whereby a player has to stay off for 30 seconds. Personally I'd actually like to see it extended to 1 minute. 30 seconds feels like no time at all.

We will see players finding a workaround in no time though. Expect to see players rolling around to waste time, then refusing for the physios to come on. One thing I'd like to see, is that if the player refuses the physios, the referee can restart the game at their own discretion. I'd like to see referees given more authority to help increase the flow of the game. I see this as being possible if the accountability of the players health is somewhat taken away from them, by allowing the player in question to determine whether they require medical assistance. Head injuries being the clear exception. 

On 16/07/2023 at 08:32, davulsukur said:

Aaron Ramsey has rejoined Cardiff.

He's 32 but if he can stay clear of injuries, potentially be a great signing for them.

15 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

Looks like we get him for free to boost our defence! Thoughts?

Bit premature, no?

On 03/07/2023 at 14:39, chaddyrovers said:

I also wonder that. Plus Luton are interested aswell 

I'm perplexed by Lutons unwillingness to spend anything. I don't think the way Forest went about things is the way to go, but Luton chucking in sub million pound bids for players, is cheap beyond belief. Sure they don't want to overpay, but they've now got serious cash to play with. If they're interested in players (not just Kaminski) pay a fair price and get them integrated into the squad, with a good pre-season. 

It feels like me quibbling over 50p for something that would be essential in my daily life. 

8 hours ago, bluebruce said:

I think the most important factor has definitely been finding full and consistent fitness. With that, we've been able to see the player he really always was.

Fingers crossed he stays fit consistently, if so then this contract could be crucial for us.

I think some of his injury struggles have led him to be the player he is today. I'm sure he always had faith in his ability, but he was staring lower league football in the eye. 

I always thought he was an ok player, but never saw the attitude we see in him now, which coupled with sustained fitness is what has made him so much better. It seemed like previously he was a product of sanitised youth football and now he's a player who had to get the bit between his teeth and win people over through sheer force of will. 

I think he's brilliant and one of my favorite players. I can see him scoring a few next season too, regardless of whether he's at right back or in midfield.

It's too early to tell for me. I think our midfield and defence is beginning to look strong. A couple more shrewd additions to add depth and a touch of quality and we'd be one of the strongest in the division. 

However, we have nothing up front. There are subtle signs that Ennis is going to need some time to get up to speed. He mentioned raising his fitness levels in one of his first interviews and JDT has hinted at this as well.

I'm in the "we've got no money to spend" boat. Simply because I think GB has got our scouting department running smoothly, and if we had money, we'd have spent some by now. I've a feeling we're struggling to find affordable attacking options. Without some very decent attackers through the door, midtable at best for me. Decent attackers and we can make top 6.

Apparently the owner of Millwall has passed away suddenly in an accident.

RIP

3 minutes ago, Tugayisgod said:

Just found this clip of him. Looks a player !

Already training with 1st team apparently this pre season 👍👍

 

You beat me to it. I was just about to post this. I do also find it quite funny that these days YouTube reels of 15 year old players exist. The level of exposure is crazy.

It won't be AI that takes anybodies job but someone using AI that will. I'm of the opinion the biggest investment anyone can make in their future career right now is understanding and mastering the basics of AI. Obviously that's dependent on the field you work in, but it's certainly not isolated to just 'IT jobs'. Use a computer for work; you're implicated. 

It's going to change the world for both better and worse. In theory the levels of output from an average worker are going to skyrocket, freeing up the time for people to focus on complex, innovative tasks rather than having their time taken by the mundane, time consuming ones, which will be easier to automate. Unfortunately, capitalism is capitalism and these increased profits will go straight into the pockets of large corporations, who are able to streamline their teams.

AI is capable of creating a worldwide utopia, where humans have increased levels of free time, whilst businesses continue to thrive. I cannot see it happening though. I do see mass unemployment on the horizon. Each individual is capable of protecting themselves against such an eventuality, but it will be a race for ever increasing individual output using AI as the tool to get there. 

There will be a lot to navigate for governments and societies over the next 5 years. It would only be one piece of the jigsaw, but switching to a 4 day working week would go someway to mitigating the damage. If that makes me, someone who's always been working since the age of 13 lazy, then so be it. 

5 hours ago, matt83 said:

It was almost like an atmosphere you find at a swimming baths. Sort of. Ambient noise with the odd random high pitch squeak and a whistle. One of the joys of going to a live game rather than watch it on tele is the atmosphere, sadly appears that’s gone if the atmosphere on Monday was better than the norm at Wembley.

I suspect those fanatical fans who go home and away just go through the motions at home to get the caps in order to go away.  

I was at the Euro 2020 semi final vs Denmark. By far the best atmosphere I've ever experienced. Qualifiers are essentially glorified friendlies these days which is reflected in the atmosphere. 

Contracted Covid pretty badly from that England. But it was bloody worth it!

1 hour ago, Bethnal said:

Right. I’ve tried this before and not had enough time to make something of it, but there’re a few games we can go to quite easily in the south this year. My Rovers-supporting mates have moved back north now and while I do plan on getting back home more this season, I’d like to be catching a few of the away games. Let me know in here if you’re in a similar position and we can set something up!

I'd be up for this. I'm not in London but down Portsmouth way. But I'd be very much interested in catching a good few away games with a group from the South 

10 hours ago, Atko's Engine said:

https://trainingground.guru/articles/premier-league-2-to-switch-to-swiss-style-format-from-next-season

This seems to be being reported in a number of places, so guessing it's true, but I can't see any mention of it from Rovers' perspective.

It seems like we would've been the only PL2 div 1 side not to have had a say in this, wonder if there is an ulterior motive to it besides those stated? 

Less games overall, with more games being against middling teams, doesn't sound to me to be as beneficial for our younger players & marks a massive shift in the goalposts I'd say...

I saw this yesterday. Looks like a crap proposal. Strikes me as being pushed by big teams who are pissed off that their very expensive academies aren't performing. 

It felt like a big deal for us to stay up last year and actually produced some fixtures that had some pressure, which is very hard to simulate at that level. 

The reasoning that clubs are worried that potential relegation results in teams hanging onto better players is the most paper thin, piss poor argument I've ever heard.

9 hours ago, Upside Down said:

How could anyone have had doubts about Souness swimming the channel?

Its fucking Graeme Souness!

SOUNESS, SOUNESS!

I'd enjoy seeing a Super League happen. Not that I'd care much for watching it, but it'd be great to see the big clubs fu** off. 

All the uproar about it is only resulting in gradual changes to the Champions League which will become a super league in all but name. Get rid of them completely and have true competition back at the top level in this country.

Technically speaking (contract yet to expire), Ben is the first Rovers player to score an international hattrick since when? 

It is time to move on, but personally I hope he does well and I'll always keep half an eye out on his career. Peculiar that nothing has been officially announced regarding his next club. Either Villareal have seen sense, or they're waiting until his contact officially expires on June 30th. 

6 minutes ago, Darrenbot said:

Steady progress? 2021=9th  2022=11th   2023=20th

Read my post.

I said had been, until last seasons disaster triggered by Beales shenanigans, before which they were 1st. You then proceed to quote last seasons finish....

Either way, I'm certain they've shot themselves in the foot. I've got a good few mates who are close to the goings on at Qpr, and it's seen that they've sacked the only person there with any form of plan. 

Its a bit like the chasm we had when Mowbray left. There was nobody remaining. All they've got now is Ainsworth chasing old Wycombe players.