22 minutes ago, Gav said:

Cobblers, Sam Allardyce was a bent bastard Jimmy and no amount of rewriting history will ever change that.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1387883/FA-probe-50k-bung-Gael-Givets-Blackburn-move.html

If you left your principles and brain at the turnstiles you could just about cope with the fact he was robbing every Rovers fan of seeing the better players come to Ewood, he was in the pocket of 1 agent, very Venkyesq actually, brown envelopes a plenty and don't get me started on him buy a round for all the Bolton fans in The Sportsmans (Bromley Cross) the night Jack Walker died.

Not 1 Rovers fan played a part in his sacking, despite your hysterics on the subject, but every England fan in this country witnessed him disgracing himself on the national stage and he should have been banned from football for life. 

Have we signed anyone yet.....

18 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Daily Mail!

OMG, I'll leave it there.

Case won.

Not only that ARA, bottom of the article - The FA confirmed a probe into the allegations, and a spokesman said: 'We will be looking into the material and the issues that may be raised by the content provided by The Sun.'  I highly doubt any action was taken on this - Gav might be able to provide something more?

In the case of England - his crimes were stupidity, pig-headedness, taking advantage of his position and embarrassing the FA.  The very serious allegations of third party ownership were clearly a nonsense, resulting in The Telegraph providing absolutely zero evidence.   So, whilst his position was probably untenable, a lifetime ban would have been really strange. 

Allardyce is not a particularly likeable person, but he's a far better manager than this stupid reputation of an old-fashioned hit and hope merchant.  Huge pioneer for sports science, an excellent man manager and a decent tactician. 

Everything in your post is based on character defamation, various 'forced' media stories and seemingly an old fishwives tale from Bromley. It's only natural it would be your go-to defence, seeing as you can't possibly have an argument for his value and performance as a football manager. 

As for not one fan playing a part in his sacking... where in my post did I suggest they did?  I simply implied that you were all as thick as pig-shit for not seeing the writing on the wall.  12 years later, you're sat on here telling all and sundry how great  a second tier manager like Tony Mowbray was and that nothing will change until the Rao's have sold up.... there must be a tinge of embarrassment somewhere...  

10 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Bowler could only join Blackpool on loan as he had already appeared for them and in Greece.Couldnt play for another club 

Ah, fair enough. 

15 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I don't think he'll be sold this window, but he's clearly not a fit for the style of play JDT is promoting. He made him captain because he was the clear leader of the group when JDT arrived - although Hyam has supplanted him there it looks like.

I'd say most players have improved as the season has gone on - funny that it's such a game of opinions, eh?

Which ones? I've bolded 6 there (generous with Phillips, A. Wharton and Garrett as they've not REALLY played enough to be included).  Can't make much of a case for the rest... Perhaps another way to analyse would be, who's gone backwards?

Thomas Kaminski
Aynsley Pears
Ashley Phillips
Dominic Hyam - has he improved in a Rovers shirt.... probably not really. 
Daniel Ayala
Scott Wharton    
Hayden Carter    
Harry Pickering
Tayo Edun
Callum Brittain
Joe Rankin-Costello
Lewis Travis
Clinton Mola
Jake Garrett
Tyler Morton
Adam Wharton
John Buckley
Bradley Dack
Sammie Szmodics    
Tyrhys Dolan    
Ryan Hedges    
Dilan Markanday    
Ben Brereton Díaz    
Sam Gallagher
Jack Vale    

11 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

But my point was players who had signed for other championship clubs that I feel we haven't missed out now anyone who would vastly improve us.  

Josh Bowler
Reda Khadra
Malcolm Ebiowei
Aaron Connolly
Cameron Archer
Jamal Lowe

6 decent players there - people were in hysterics 5 months ago when Bowler was linked.  Now gone back to Blackpool on loan. 

Khadra whilst not everyone's cup of tea would add some pace, flair and unpredictability that our lot haven't an ounce of. 

Rest of them are all decent attacking options in the Championship.  Can only assume we would be able to compete for at least 3 of them, assuming we'd have probably been outbid by Boro for Archer. 

None of those take your fancy?  Another week to go - maybe we re-visit this list then and see if we've done better or worse. 

Just now, BigBar said:

Bad day for Hyam. Errors for both the goals and now injured.

I thought the pass to Hyam was poor. He was stretching to clear. Anyone know who played it? 

Just now, BankEnd Rover said:

No changes…MENTAL!

Not really surprised. I don't JDT will be too disappointed, we could be 2 or 3 - 1 up. 10 more mins, see how we do then look at Dolan and Markanday. Hope someone has given Gallagher a bollocking. Wake him up a bit 

1 minute ago, Exiled_Rover said:

You lose all your physicality upfront, but it's worth a shot. 

The ONLY time we'd miss Gallagher is if Rotherham get a corner. I can't remember ever seeing a player who boils my blood as much as him.  Fantastic pass by Dack and he made a complete mess of it. 

A lot of angry posters on here, but I think we've actually played OKAY. Dack is our best player by a country mile. Those fans that wrote him off and wanted him sold should hang their heads in shame. 

Rotherham are a team of workhorses, but they're pretty poor.  If we can't equalise here it's a real wake up call for the powers that be during this window.  Vale and Gally as our strikers is nauseating. 

4 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

The rumours of a £2m bid for Cantwell can't be true, Gav says we've no money. Just like he said we'd no money for weeks in the summer before we went out and spent £6.5 m.

Turns out the rumours weren't true anyway, but can you itemise the £6.5m?  I've got a feeling that figure is about as accurate as Gav's claim that when Gally plays we average over 3 points per game. 

1 hour ago, Gav said:

Tremendous support as always. 

I thought the support was very flat tonight, and the reason for that is we had absolutely nothing to get behind. The most rousing moment was BBDs marvellous effort that was so, so close - beyond that I feel like the life was sapped out of the fanbase. We became pedestrian, passive and lethargic just like the players, and no wonder.  

Truly awful performance - the two strikers were an embarassment, S. Wharton's distribution was terrible, the Travis RWB experiment needs binning and Tomasson needs to make changes earlier. I was watching the bloody clock tick away in horror as we sat through the same methodical, backwards, sideways, slow, nonsense over and over again. The movement off the ball was pathetic and Coventry never looked remotely worried.  We had about 2 or 3 mins of urgency after the triple sub... Sadly the red card sapped that sharpish too.

56 minutes ago, RoversTilliDie said:

One of his faults, needless fouls that get him a yellow card. After saying that, when you get punched in the face from one of their players your gonna be slightly pissed off. Maybe JDT should drum discipilne into the squad, let the opposition do the fouling while we play football.

Hmmm, he's averaging about one yellow card every 4.5 games throughout his career, and one red card in his entire career.  For a combative midfielder whose job it is to be in the heat of battle, I'd say that's not indicative of someone with poor discipline. 

17 minutes ago, den said:

Don’t know but it makes no difference to my views.

Did you used to think the same about Robbie Savage then?  Quite similar players - wind up merchants but in my opinion not whizz tops or players that resort to violence, they're smarter than that and leave it to the people they're winding up.  But for poor refereeing, Travis would have had two opposition players sent off in the last 3 games with absolutely no danger of getting sent off himself. 

1 hour ago, den said:

Travis scares the hell out of me. 
 

Seemingly every game, he gets himself in needless situations where he’s risking a sending off. Unless he can control that it’s going to happen - and that will cost us all. Mainly his team mates.

How many red cards has he had in his career?

Just now, Exiled_Rover said:

Davies / Davis was offside - he flicked the ball on to the eventual goalscorer.

It's actually a really, really close call.  Ayala dropped back just as the first header was flicked on.  Incredibly tight - we'll take it.

15 hours ago, BigBar said:

Just gonna say it, JDT isn't the answer, Ewood is rotten to the core and every now and then we get glimmers of hope. We are constantly swimming against the tide. The sqaud is not up to it, few injuries and we just collapse. Plugging gaps everywhere with players substandard in their own positions. Trying to get by on a shoestring. It's a joke and it's horrible to watch it season after season.

Less than 48 hours before this post you lambasted me for daring to question why our strikeforce won't tear up the divison... I quote "But hey look you just stick with the negative outlook on this one." 

Seems a bit hypocritical now doesn't it?

In fact, here was your original quote on Thursday.... "The ingredients are there, this division is shite, we really are a left back and a midfield general away from the Premier League imo. Top class keeper, solid centre halves now, talented but young midfield and a front line that can tear up this division." 

Gone from PL in waiting to absoutely not up to it and substandard in many positions, from Thursday night to Saturday afternoon 😂😂😂😂

39 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

He left footed mate...🤷‍♂️  

Pickering is the least aggressive full back I've seen for a while.....a right pansy

36 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

That's not really his game, he usually cuts in ala BBD. 

Okay, barring one shot which went over (first half I think) and one volley from a corner (not related to Pickering's performance, I can't remember him having any joy whatsoever. 

He's not my favourite by a mile, I've been extremely critical of him, but if Blackpool's best player has little more than a sniff against him then he's done his job, has he not? 

Just on the... "he's left footed mate" - he's a Premier League footballer - if he doesn't have the capacity to beat a full back on the outside and cross with his weak foot, he shouldn't be there, frankly - especially when his preferred avenue has clearly been found out by the opposition.  Grealish could be a decent comparison - right footed naturally plays on the left,  and certainly isn't afraid to go on the outside and keep his opposite number guessing. 

8 minutes ago, Butty said:

Whenever Bowler was 1v1 against Pickering he usually ended up being able to get a cross in, it was a good job we doubled and tripled up on him. I don’t want to be to harsh on Pickering because he’s just not good enough and that’s not his fault, Wednesday was one of his better games for us though. 

I'd have to watch again, but I can't really remember Bowler getting to the byline too many times...  I felt like the more obvious threat was coming from their left (our right) in the form of Lavery and their left back (name escapes me).  

2 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Not all the time. Wharton helped but Pickering had a good game aswell.

Id rather someone better at lb myself that doesn't mean Pickering doesn't deserve praise when he plays well, and he did on Wednesday night 

I thought Pickering did pretty well.  His main nemesis is pace, of which Bowler isn't blessed with loads.  I was also extremely worried about him vs WBA with Jed Wallace' crossing ability, but he just about managed there as well, barring one or two hairy moments.

4 minutes ago, BigBar said:

Sorry did I give off the impression I think Dolan and Gally are prolific?? I think BBD and Dack can tear up this division. BBD could get 25 plus and Dack 10 and alot of assists. Citys top scorer last year , KDB had 15 followed by Mahrez on 11. 

 

City is a remarkable choice for comparison because BBD scored just shy of 40% of our goals last season, KDB scored 15% of City's. So the example you used is exactly the opposite of what you are expecting Rovers to be this season... Heavily reliant on BBD again. What was your point?  City are a brilliant example of scoring goals across the team - we are likely to be the absolute opposite. Not withstanding the fact City's new striker has just scored 9 goals in his first 4 games of course. 

23 minutes ago, BigBar said:

And I told you why I felt we have a front line that CAN...sorry they haven't lived up to your expectations so far. BBD is the main man with Dack, Hedges, Smozdics, Dolan Gally etc playing a supporting role.

I didn't ignore it I didn't know you required a response to that part because what you are saying basically is we are currently midtable regarding goals scored stats. Like saying we scored the most goals in the division but we have the lowest crosses and shots. Don't put too much stock into "attacking stats", foolish of me to focus on just winning games I guess

Only Brereton can be said to have lived up to expectations in the last 3 years. Dolan has 7 in 71 for us, Gally has 23 in 118,  Hedges has 0 but scored 11 in 66 in the SPL, Szmodics did well in L1 and Hirst the same - no real Championship track records there. Dack is another question mark, desperate for him to get back to where he was, fingers crossed. 

Just found it a bit odd given the calibre of Championship attacker we have, for you to suggest we're gonna tear up the division. There's very little evidence for it, particularly considering we've scored a solitary goal in the last 4 games. 

Regarding the stats - if you don't focus on how many shots we have or how many times we are in the opposition box then that's your prerogative, but I bet managers and coaching teams will.  What's the old adage? If you don't shoot.... 

6 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

rhat what Travis is there. 

Mola from what I have read can play left back, centre back or centre midfield so very adaptable. 

Travis, Carter or Buckley can fill in at right back

JDT and GB don't rate him as highly as Morton who we signed instead

If at the start of the window anyone had put Travis and Buckley forward as 2nd choice right backs there would have been outrage. Travis is a sticking plaster there. He's not a right back and does tend to drift and get caught out of position. A lot of Blackpool's play went down that side last night, and a few times Lavery wasted good positions with poor or wasteful play.  Buckley is exactly the same, a midfielder. 

I'm really pleased with some of our business and Brittain has started well, but we should all be praying he can get fit quick. 

2 minutes ago, BigBar said:

You don't need every attacker scoring 20 plus goals, do you understand that? We have a red hot Chilean international bangin them in. We have a quality footballer in Bradley Dack getting back to somewhat of his old self, supplying ammo and chipping in. Gally is capable of getting 10. Trav is chipping in too. 

But hey look you just stick with the negative outlook on this one.

Haha negative outlook. I asked you what brought you to the conclusion we have a strike force that could tear up the division.  We've got Brereton who I acknowledged is great and Dack who I love but hasn't played in practically 3 seasons.  The rest have a lot to prove and a lot to do. Surely you can understand that without calling someone negative? 

You ignored my comment about actual stats from our opening 6 games... Why? 

1 minute ago, islander200 said:

If Dack gets back to anything like he was before along with Brererton not many clubs have two attackers as good as that.Add Hedges if he continues his early season form he looks to have a bit of magic and can unlock a defence.He was a big miss in the 3 defeats.

Up to one of the others to claim the other place... hopefully Hirst season at Pompey last season was a marker to kicking on and showing the talent he did as a youngster at senior level.

Another goalscorer would have been nice no doubt but we ain't in bad shape and potentially it could be quite exciting.There where signs last night it was clicking, we did put some lovely moves together

It will be better when Wharton is back he gets the ball moving forward quicker than Phillips and Ayala 

 

One or two big ifs in there. Desperate for Dack to do well... There's very positive signs him and BB have a good understanding AND Dack sees the game unfold ahead of everyone else. 

How many has Hedges scored so far in a B&W shirt? Looks good, nice touches but we need people to weigh in with goals. 

Gally won't score more than 10, rest are probably 6 or 7. Let's hope Hirst can weigh in.