5 minutes ago, BigBar said:

Few seasons back I thought Travis could be a PL player and the sky was the limit. Brought a mate to a game few years back and he picked him out of everyone and said he was a player. He was strong, neat, covered every blade of grass, dribbled well, drove forward and supported the play...seems an age ago. Disappointing.

The one thing he has always lacked is pace in foot and mind. Maybe the likes of Evans made him look better than he is

5 minutes ago, BigBar said:

Yeah seems the manager is trying to send some sort of message. He's miles ahead of Garrett. Baffling.

Disagree, they both have strengths and weaknesses. Combine them then we have a player. Hopefully time will develop their weaknesses.

Hirst not in todays squad.......hopefully a positive sign

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

The same Dolan who basically got us 3 valuable points at Norwich ?

Same Dolan who has come on several times this season to defend from the front and run himself into the ground to help guard a lead.

Same Dolan who cost nothing is still a young player and has numerous assists and goals here ?

Some headless chicken that, in reality he's is one of the most useful members of the squad here.

He has value but by running around which can be effective, Im not disagreeing and against certain oppostion is very effective.

When it comes to automatic choice what has cost got to do with it....unless you're an accountant.

Run himself into the ground usually means running for everything mean lots of spent energy for nothing = headless chicken

1 hour ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Yeah they need to learn to spit at people in the crowd🤔

EH Diouf was a horrible perosn and personally wouldnt had had him at the club but as a professional windup merchant ot pantomine villian he was a master of his craft as was Savage.

Buckley is a spolit child who needs his legs slapping

1 hour ago, Hasta said:

That's harsh. Dolan can be limited but has 3 goals and 4 assists in 879 minutes of Championship football. Thats a goal involvement every 1.4 games. Plus you get the work rate to go with it.

Let's put this into comparison with the other attack minded players.

Dolan 3g / 4a / 879m / Contribution to a goal every 1.4 games

Szmodics 3g / 1a / 912m / Contribution 2.5

Gallagher 3g / 1a / 1263m / Contribution 3.5

Dack 1g / 1a / 642m / Contribution 3.6

HIrst 0g /0a / 272m / ZERO CONTRIBUTION

Vale 0g / 0a / 303m / ZERO CONTRIBUTION

 

I think Dolan is far from the problem with our team at the moment. Ideally I would have him in every starting line up 

Brereton, out of interest, comes out at 9g / 3a / 2164 / Contribution 2.0

 

 

Not saying he is a problem but he is not an automatic first choice, stats show he is an impact player

1 hour ago, BankEnd Rover said:

The game was at 1-1 when the red card was given…then it went to 2-1? How does the red card not play a factor? Especially when it was one of our best players who went…
 

Agreed, Dack has been great, however the manager has clearly stated it was about his fitness…The subs were right on the night anyway…otherwise we’d of been over run & probably conceded more goals.  …Morton was terrible & Dack isn’t exactly the best & quickest at tracking back….(cue someone say Garrett & Travis were No bEtTeR)…aye I agree with you…they were sh*te and I hope we have a better duo tomorrow.

If you cant see that the game was already slipping as Boro had changed tactics then Im sorry but the red card was not the only changing factor hence the frustations including John Buckley's

5 hours ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

I seem to remember Robbie Savage being quite petulant, and EH Diouf. 

But yeah, lets all hate on mild-mannered Buckley because people are upset cos he got sent off. 

 

 

 

No, youve missed a key point.

The players you mention both knew when to petulant and when to be professional. How many times was Savage suspended? From memory he only got sent off once.

Buckley....and Travis both need to learn that skill.

4 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

And paid good money for him.

and played him right wing

1 hour ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Turning on a manger when we were in control & then have a game turn due to a red card…Aye…about right for rovers fans.

Everyone has the right to be angry & fustrsted of how we are playing…however to turn on a manager when he’s not even had a full summer of transfers is just bonkers…

 

So we had the game under control....really? First half yes but Boro had equalised by the time of the sending off and the game was on a knife edge up to the sending off. So no way did the game turn on the red card.

Dack had been one of the best players before the red card and the fans were disappointed to see us take off an attacking option no matter how justified JDT was in bringing two midfielders on.

51 minutes ago, Shirley Crabtree Wrestler said:

Aye but it has all gone very quiet since the end of November on that one.. No doubt some club or other will come sniffing around, but I can't see there being a large wad being left on the table to tempt the lad elsewhere at this point.

In terms of incomings, this is as big a test of the new management set up as there is likely to be - they've had a good chance to run the rule over the squad they inherited, plus to bed in the players they brought in. They have also had the benefit of meeting all of the opposing clubs in the division at least once, and can no doubt see where we are lacking in comparison. Question is, are there the resources and commitment to do something about it, and is there an appetite to try to take the club forward? 

Talk is cheap, and actions always speak louder than words. So let's see what JDT / Broughton / Venkys actually DO at this point, as we face a real crossroads at the mid point of the season.

For me, I think we need:

1) A hard tackling attacking midfield player with a bit of experience, to steady up and lead the centre of the pitch

2) A decent front man capable of holding the ball up and bringing others into play, with an eye for goal himself (also experienced)

3) A centre forward looking to get into dangerous space and hungry to score (i.e. not just to be in the space like Gallagher)

4) A bloke with a white hot brazier and branding iron to shove up JDT's arse when the team is fannying around and giving away cheap possession in dangerous areas

That would sort it.

so 20 to 30 million should sort us out....I can think or 20 to 30 million reasons the three players you require arent going to materialise

30 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

...and Sam Gallagher v PNE at home in relegation season?

he also got binned. Only problem the manager who binned him bought him a season later.

44 minutes ago, onlyoneDuff said:

We have no pacey wingers who can beat a man and put a cross in..we have no midfielders who can put a real tackle in nor one who can beat a man with the ball at his feet..our best are starved for service...much us needed and I have doubts the DOF can deliver..

Edited...I do rate both Dolan and young Wharton and think they should be first on the team sheets

Dolan is a headless chicken, Wharton at best is worthy of cameo appearances.....agree with the rest

On 30/12/2022 at 13:19, J*B said:

I thought we played really, really well in the first half last night. We could have easily gone in at half time 3-0 up. I could see identity and a clear approach to the match and thought Dack, Hedges, Buckley, JRC and Pickering where standout players.

However Boro let us play like that. I’ve never questioned that we are capable of that. It’s when we play a team pressing us and putting challenges in we have a breakdown. We don’t like it when we can’t play how we like. 

We'll see tomorrow if any lessons learnt as Cardiff were one of the first to show the high press against us results in a very dangerous rise in my already high blood pressure 

3 hours ago, arbitro said:

On the day the officials will decide the outcome and on another day Buckley might not have been sent off. Simply down to interpretation and your wider point about inconsistency is an issue in the game. What irks me more though is that Buckley put himself in a position whereby he gave the officials a decision to make.

If VAR had been used last night I don't believe the red card would have been overturned because it wasn't a clear and obvious error by the officials. Whilst it's really subjective and open to interpretation I don't believe that in law the referee was wrong. It will be interesting to see if Rovers agree or not and lodge an appeal. 

Although with VAR as the ref missed the original incident he would have been asked to review the incident on a monitor and not go of the fourth official view 

3 hours ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

A quick question - were the tactics last night, mixing short passes with long balls, typical of what had gone before ? Last night was different - and at times effective. The only time we went a bit suicidal at the back was when down to 10 men - prior to that we was playing it through the lines well.

Still nearly got caught several times passing across our own box and contrary to what you say it happened several times in the first half. It was better but by no means cured , it was still one pass from disaster.

12 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Not really sure how you jump to that conclusion. Yes they scored early in the second half but no way we were dead and buried at that point. In fact the only stat Boro really came out on top on was they had more possession, oh and corners.

 

errrr and they scored two to our one

Buckley was petulent to get sent off and I cant understand Garrett getting criticised when Travis came on and contributed nothing. We need an experienced midfielder to bring the best out of these players. Travis is not that player.

The midfield department is not working at present. The individuals all have plus and minus but none are the total package. Maybe Whiteman would of benefitted us alongside Buckley, Wharton or Morton but none will flourish in our present midfield.

If only we had a Gordon Cowans to pull the strings. 

People questioning the officials over the sending off should remember that it is just stupid and unprofessional to give a ref a decision to make.

If Adam W is sulking about a managerial decision then again it is unprofessional.

I could go on about unprofessional things at this club an they should be dealt with by the management but as the biggest crime of being unprofessional is not changing tactics when it is clear they arent working there is little chance.

13 minutes ago, DE. said:

According to Mowbray he doesn't really have a say in transfers for Sunderland, so I don't think it'll be his call either way. He did say he had "all the spreadsheets" here, which I take to mean he had far more involvement in recruitment. I suppose that's the difference between being manager here (which historically under Venky's means you basically are in charge of everything related to the playing squads) and just being the head coach at Sunderland. 

He said the same at Rovers saying Venus dealt with transfers.

49 minutes ago, Shirley Crabtree Wrestler said:

I agree completely. Rovers are sadly lacking in leadership and backbone.

Anything other than this headless chicken tippy tappy across the backy nonsense that just isn't working.

Surely there are up and coming players in the lower leagues who would run through a frozen shit-house to play at our level, but who wouldn't smash the wage structure / disrupt the team?

Step forward, ye mighty warriors, ye silk-skilled arse kicking reputation smashing legends to be. Come forth and save this once proud and prominent club from the permanent purgatory of players pissing about at the back when the game needs energy up front. But do come soon. SOS - Save Our Season!

Yes there are many in the lower leagues who run all day but we dont need that we need an experienced head at the back that knows when to go deep and when he can go short like the Head coach. In midfield we need some who can control the tempo of the game.

I was aboiut to say a couple of older free transfers would be good but as Im writing this Im listening to Danny Murphy so maybe  that isnt a good idea.

12 hours ago, Shirley Crabtree Wrestler said:

In January, we need to bring in an enforcer of our own - a Robbie Savage type who plays with the entrails of his opponents across his chest, who snarls and harries and bothers the opposition into the kind of mistakes we have become accustomed to making.

I agree we need a midfielder but its not a Robbie Savage type. No way was he an enforcer. He start an argument then wait for the enforcers like Nelson and Samba to fight his battles. I'd say we require more a Gordon Cowans type a canny operator who knew how to pass.

As a player, we have Travis, who is a bargain shop equivalent version of Savage but we havent got the players who will join the fight when its started. We require a Nelson, Moran or even an Andy Todd type centre half who could play and fight for everything. A player who wasnt afraid to spill blood. A captain who lead from the front and the rest of the team can be inspired by.

Lewis Travis isnt that player though.

19 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

 

A player who might have thrived with Tomasson's way of playing is Joe Rothwell (late of this parish). He was at his best running at pace with the ball from deep - and he would have had plenty of opportunities under the current set-up. This isn't a Rothwell love-in - he was very inconsistent and could go missing in games - but we don't have a player like that now.

But our Head coach doesn't want to run with the ball, he wants us to pass our way as the ball travels quicker than a player dribbling. Shame the passing is across our own box or even deeper.

2 hours ago, broadsword said:

Was talking to an Irish mate about Kevin. We agreed he was as hard as nails. He played a major role in getting Rovers out of what was the old second division.

 

I think we all remember the goal against Derby in the play-off semi. For sheer bravery, it's difficult to match.  I think he was one of those players that had great assurance in his play, you never worried about the man.

 

Two points: - am I right in thinking that we signed him on a free transfer? If so, have we ever made a better free signing? And two, have we ever had a harder player? John McNamee perhaps?

He was also the player that taught Colin Hendry how to defend

Okacha gets mentioned everytime that there is a discussion about who is the most skillful or the likes so I;d argue that he was not underrated. Tugay very seldomly even draws a mention outside Rovers fans so Id argue he was truly underated in comparison.