Did Ennis touch the ball????

10 minutes ago, Blow-in said:

I think people are overly harsh on Pickering am I the only one? 

He is not great and he is slow but there is no protection on that side of the field and I think he generally does ok.

Agree with all that but he's behind JRC, Brittain, and Hill. 

10 minutes ago, BigBar said:

Pickering needs replacing badly. 

Our full backs are Brittain and JRC, we just need our midfielders to step up and be Championship midfielders. 

This will allow us to play Hyam & Hill in the centre for the rest of the season...

Pickering on the bench, with Carter. 

Boom...

Is JDT sending a clear message to GB by not including Telalovic in the squad, and not bringing Ennis on despite the perfect opportunity to give him vital minutes...?

Really good effort from the youngsters, as always. 

I'm proud of them, and how JDT has us playing, throughout the squad, in the face of seriously challenging working conditions. 

One Broughton blunder and one nailed on penalty decision away from a decent result.

Decent-ish reward for our brilliant fans.

Shame about that 2nd mistake..

14 minutes ago, moerpho said:

Half time. Can’t really complain about that despite some horrible errors. Still only 1-0 against an almost full strenght Chelsea away from home midweek….and televised to top it off. We are not even close to playing our strongest 11 so taking that into consideration we’ve done ok....

I really think that Saturday, and then tonight, has showed that we don't have a nailed on 1st/best eleven. 

This is our equal best 11, with the addition of SS.

We are short of a goalscorer, as we have been for the last year. 

And that Leonard effort shows that we are still short. 

Stage is set for an Ennis impact, if he is good enough....

Really good performance again.

Sad that another mistake by Broughton has cost us. 

All to play for....

2 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Badiashile, Disasi, Cucurella; Ugochukwu, Gallagher, Fernandez; Palmer, Jackson, Sterling

Subs: Petrovic, Colwill, Gusto, Maatsen, Caicedo, Madueke, Matos, Castledine, Washington

Injuries: Mudryk, Broja, Chilwell, Nkunku, Lavia, Chalobah, Chukwuemeka, Fofana

Ok, it's definitely not the West Ham 2022 scenario...

Big, big test, bring it on.

That could've easily have been the starting 11 in the League, last week or this week.

JDT definitely influenced by Poccetino's claims that he would start a strong eleven.

We're as strong as we could be, let's do it....

Ok, 6 changes.

Relatively experienced side.

COYB !!!!!

We'll make between 6 - 10 changes from Saturday.

It will arguably be a stronger starting 11 than West Ham last season, but I fear for our new central defence partnership of Hill and Scott.

We'll be brave on the ball and driven on by our brilliant fans.

You never know....🙂

5 hours ago, davulsukur said:

I dunno about it being miles off, the team against West Ham had Edun, Vale, Markanday and Mola all starting. Hirst came off the bench:

 

What a great night, best penalty shoot-out I have seen, nerves of steel from our teenagers....

3 minutes ago, LDRover said:

Really hard fought win that and one I felt we deserved. Maybe a bit churlish to pick a couple of players out but Scott Wharton has definitely regressed to looking a bit of a liability and I'll take some convincing on the new keeper.

Nevertheless, I'm as happy as a pig in shit tonight.

Wow.

Few saying Scot W and Carter struggled, but just as many saying they were solid.

Think they all deserve credit.  

Brilliant result. 

Millwall's bogey team. 

Hopefully another few hundred on the gate on Saturday, they won't bring as many as Cardiff. 

Proud of the boys, after that dodgy run.

4 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

You might prefer this, although it seems to skip the pass for some reason.

 

Perfect, thanks

Please could someone describe that goal in detail🍻🥳 

3 minutes ago, LDRover said:

Don't get this that we're poor I think we've been excellent apart from in the last third. Some of the crisp passing and movement has had Millwall chasing shadows.

However, we all know what happens when we don't convert dominance into goals...

I've tried not to labour this, this season, but our approach is generally to retain possession, not to look to score, so when JDT claims we haven't been progressive enough, it infuriates me. 

The irony is that when we play the youth team in the early cup games, they play the neat, effective JDT possession game, but ignore the 'keep it in midfield' instruction and score loadsa goals. 

The on-field 11 tonight need to do the same, but retaining their place in the side is understandably a priority. 

Hopefully we'll turn our dominance into 3 points.

C O Y B  ! ! !

Just now, NeilInBristol said:

Yeh but we need something

 Ten mins? 

We need a point, and 3 on Sat....

1 minute ago, benhben said:

I'd chuck ennis on for last 20 mins. He looked handy before his injury. Move Sami further back 

Ennis trained once in a month, would be risky.

Hopefully good for Saturday, tho....

V strong substitutions...

Game v much on....

Come on....

I can confirm that the 60s shirt, commissioned earlier in the year, is a quality item, so I'm sure this will be equally good. 

I recommend the purchase, and just about to order mine. 

Great Xmas present, and a brilliant cause.

Hoping a (muted?) desire to see our new signings in the flesh will bring a few out on Sat.

The Plymouth result popped our semi-inflated optimism about our transfer window performance, so hopefully we'll have most of the signings at least on the bench.

Also, please note that there are plenty of Rovers players to vote for in the NW Football Awards.

Please vote! V easy...

https://www.northwestfootballawards.com/vote-nwfa-2023/

Plenty of Rovers interest in the NW Football Awards.

Please vote! V easy...

https://www.northwestfootballawards.com/vote-nwfa-2023/

4 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Think weve been pretty good, just usual struggles with final ball and finishing....

You can't rush these things.

As many have said, it was a positive transfer window, and why strengthen up front when we have 3 or 4 strikers who can all bag 4 or 5 goals a season. 

If staying with the same front line as last season, minus BBD, doesn't work, we have the January transfer window to possible recruit a championship quality goalscorer...

For what it's worth, I'm happy with the way we are playing at the moment.

We have long since established an effective way of playing out from the back which no longer results in chances and goals for the opposition. This is a real success, and must be recognised. 

I am happy with the way we break the press, and create increasingly regular positive opportunities for our front 3.

It is stating the bleedin obvious to say we need to be able to create more clear chances, and score more goals, but this will come with one decent window, preferably this summer. 

I genuinely think we are not cemented in a play off place due to JDTs decision, starting at Bramall Lane, to bring more defenders on in the last 10 minutes in games where we are seemingly in control. 

This has led to a relatively solid back 4 suddenly being less confident of their positioning and planning, and this has resulted in confusion and last minute goals conceded.

It's that simple.

I know the lack of goals is the main reason for our spiral, but this substitution confusion has cost us at least 4 points.

I think Sunderland and West Brom will be nervous today, and there is a chance that if we win, we will be sixth. 

I'm happy with the JDT style, but the jury is out on whether he can learn from this season's mistakes, on and off the pitch, and keep us up there for the full 46 games next season. 

COYB ! !