
roversfan99
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Everything posted by roversfan99
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That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
He mentioned when Travis went about his wages. Every decision at the moment seems to be driven by cost cutting, not about what is best for the team. -
We are in no mans land in the league, we would likely need automatic promotion from now until the end of the season to threaten the play offs. A big ask even if our squad wasn't as thin and poor as it is compared to recent years, so that isn't happening. Equally, even with us faltering lately, it would take one hell of a collapse for us to be in serious danger down at the bottom with a buffer and some crap teams down there. I would love us to put some emphasis on the cups, we have a winnable tie and I would go strong with the potential exception of starting Szmodics. Tomasson has a really good record in the cup, it is strange as he often makes wholesale changes, more than Mowbray did so it's not as if his teams have shown more respect necessarily to them but he has done well in them. A black mark last season was the team he put out at home to Forest. Fingers crossed we can go on another run as it could add a bit of excitement to an otherwise potentially underwhelming end to the season,
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That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
That would mean Szmodics and Moran in front of either Tronstad or Wharton, leaving one with even more defensive work to do and the other not playing. I think the Tronstad, Wharton and Szmodics combination is the one area of the team that isnt causing a headache. Moran should be adding competition but remains in the team week in week out from a wide role because the owners wouldnt allow the loan signing of a wide man that we had lined up on deadline day. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
He obviously wouldnt displace Szmodics and because under these restrictions the transfer policy is to get what we can and not what we need, we dont have any competent wingers bar Sigurdsson with Hedges out injured. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
People keep saying if he gets a regular run, if he plays down the middle, if he becomes more selfish etc year on year. He wont suddenly become a more selfish or more aggressive striker. He is what he is, an average Championship striker who will get you 8-10 goals each year. That still makes him considerably more useful than Ennis, Telalovic and Leonard, and our best striker, as frustrating as he is. A nice touch? Must not have watched the same player. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
Gelhardt is a name that came up a lot last season, absolutely not what we need. Another flighty number 10 type who struggled when played as a striker for Sunderland. Mind you, it is Nixon, still baffles me that people pay their hard earned to read the shite he spouts. O'Riordan again doesnt scream a solution now to our defensive woes. That will likely require a change of tact from the manager. We have a bunch of defenders some of whom are proven at this level but are our out of form and being left exposed. Gallagher would be a loss, but as ever finance is the primary focus. For all of his limiations, he is clearly our best striker just by being bang average. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
Waggott is a useless idiot but its on the owners. They kept intervening and rejecting offers prior to their contract expiry. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
Leonard leaving on loan would make sense especially if we did sign another striker. Between him, Ennis and Telalovic, you are struggling to make a good Championship striker between them at the moment, theres little between them. Leonard is still so young though and does have good movement albeit his finishing is very erratic. It could do him good to get 20 games elsewhere if we could achieve that. Garrett would make less sense. Travis is a better player and to let him go was clearly not based on their respective ability at this moment in time. A mixture of finances and the will of Travis to move because hes left a huge hole. I do think like Leonard that Garrett is not quite at the level to play fairly regularly at Championship level but we are already very reliant on Wharton and Tronstad so we would then need 2 incomings there which seems unlikely. We need to finish this window with MORE players, we dont have enough. Not just a shuffle of 1 in, 1 out. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
Why would he kick off that a direct rival for his position has been loaned out? -
v Cambridge Utd (h) - 06/01/24 FA Cup R3
roversfan99 replied to Upside Down's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
The most important thing is to get into the next round which we did and in the end, in convincing and entertaining style. Not sure why people have to start implying that any Rovers fan was in anyway unhappy because they couldnt complain, but that seems to be a desperate and depressing growing trend. It wasnt too dissimilar to the pattern of games across recent weeks and months, albeit against poorer and quickly tiring opposition, we created more chances, we were more ruthless and could have had 7 or 8. Defensively there is still plenty to worry about and the style we play creates further issues in that regard. Some of the interplay further forward especially as Cambridge tired however was a joy to watch. Szmodics this season has been outstanding and his hat trick was very impressive. Tomasson has been restricted with a small squad but again missed a clear opportunity to wrap our main man in cotton wool for at least half an hour, didnt and he was struggling at the end. Hes not the type to play with the handbrake on and I just hope he is fine. He should have also been taken off at Southampton and was injured the following week, if he isnt injured then he quite possibly will be soon and Tomasson would have fingers pointed at him for not taking good chances to rest him. Sigurdsson is a strange player, lots of half hearted flicks but he is the only one to really release any of the goalscoring burden from Szmodics because he himself offers a goal threat and picks up good goalscoring positions. Its a shame we only added a year on his contract and might have to sell in the summer. The striking situation remains something we must address ASAP. Telalovic is a clumsy player, he held it up well at times but he doesnt look like scoring. Gallagher seems a shoe in to start as soon as he returns to fitness. -
He probably is an attractive proposition because he is clearly capable of doing a good if unspectacular job at this level, with his most recent 2 seasons at this level leading to a recently promoted team making the play offs and a team who had just sold its best player and reinvested nothing to one place outside the play offs. Obviously not factoring in a weird hatred partially driven by wanting to deflect any blame away from Venkys.
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That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
You (and not in isolation) keep saying that Travis isnt starting in our best 11. One of our biggest if not the biggest issues on the field is how thin and flimsy the squad is. Travis is comfortably our third best central midfielder, has been a regular in teams finishing 8th and 7th and has now gone to 2nd. Garrett isnt comparable, just cheaper. Rankin Costello is needed at full back, he is miles better than Brittain and if he did move, then we have one right back only. Its another area now that we look flimsy in. Its also a further blow in reducing the pitiful lack of experience in the squad. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
Travis leaving undoubtedly weakens the squad. People say rightly that Tronstad and Wharton are our main 2. But we need more than a first 11, thats been a big issue all season, and Travis is clearly 3rd in line, or should be. Garrett isnt as good, but he is on a lower wage, Travis' wage was touched on as Tomasson discussed his exit. Our squad becomes thinner in that area, less experienced and more of a soft touch. This young lad coming in I think further adds weight to the idea that now under Venkys, we sign what we can not what we need. We need a striker and a quick winger. Weve got seemingly another lightweight number 10, maybe at a push can play elsewhere, similar to Moran. Not what is needed, before factoring in a failed spell at Coventry. People keep talking about 1 player replacing another player. We need a bigger squad, not just a reshuffle with the same numbers. -
Mid season review - Signs of progression ?
roversfan99 replied to Tugayisgod's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
We need those 3 players but we couldnt afford to then lose 2, we need them 3 on top. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
Its one thing having a bench with even 1 or 2 kids on. We basically had a bench of just Hill and Leonard, and even the latter is a kid. Sunderland do have absentees themselves, Pritchard, Evans, Alese are 3 off the top of my head. But we are going off on a tangent anyway. Youve assumed we will sign players which is a total unknown. And if we do, theyll likely be more kids on loan, so doesnt solve the experience issue. But even if we do and those 4 come back, we are unlikely to not have other injuries throughout the second half of the season. Our current team will be prone to breaking down, Pickering and Szmodics already are seemingly at breaking point. And we still have a small squad even compared to the last 2 seasons, so even if you move those minutes across, its still going to stretch the squad. Quality wise, it does say a lot that Dolan, Hedges and Gallagher are so desperately needed to come back, attackers who have fallen short in previous years, but I do agree they are. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
Im not having that any club in this league is 7 injuries away from a bench like that. Ive still not seen why our even thinner and younger squad will follow a pattern contrary to that of the previous 2 years and not struggle to last the pace over 46 games, with results tailing off towards the end. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
They wouldnt have a bench as weak as ours. It was a sub keeper with no league experience, one defender, a young striker playing his first proper season, Markanday who couldnt get a game for Aberdeen and Tomasson is clearly very reluctant to use, and then beyond that, none of the other subs would have ever come on yesterday regardless of circumstances. But again, the conversation was about where we will finish. My point was that we have had a small squad in the last 2 seasons and our seasons both had significant declines in the final months. With an even smaller squad, compounded by added injuries due to fatigue, and even less experience and guidance, I cant see how a similar path will be avoided. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
That will partly be down to being overly reliant on players to keep going again. But surely more injuries reducing the squad further only increases the likelihood of a second half of the season dip? I certainly have never suggested its a relegation squad, obviously not. The strength in depth is one of the worst in the league, our bench at the moment will probably be the worst in the league, but our first 15-16 players are obviously well above that. -
Mid season review - Signs of progression ?
roversfan99 replied to Tugayisgod's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
Its really hard to judge performance because its clearly a downgrade on the last 2 seasons but equally the squad more than ever is lacking depth, quality and experience. The home record and the record for v against late in games is piss poor. Recruitment has been a very mixed bag on a pitiful budget. As mentioned above, Tronstad stands out as an excellent signing. Hill has been pretty good, dont think he makes our best 11 but a good signing. Moran a mixed bag, tidy but lightweight and often ineffective, certainly not what we needed and like Hill regularly played out of position. Sigurdsson is a useful albeit inconsistent pick up, Wahlstedt has ability but huge weak areas and the 2 forwards speak for themselves. The managers performance is difficult to fully judge because there are definitely signs of a style but results arent great. But he has been dealt such a bad hand that much of that is out of his hands. Im not convinced based on his job here, due mainly to those external reasons, that he has definitely done enough to get a "top 5 league" job as people have assumed before. But he is better off away from here because he is above where we are as a club with these owners. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
The thing is, in the last 2 seasons we have had small squads, albeit bigger than this seasons. So its all well and good saying we have spent a good proportion of the first half of the season in the top half, but we have evidence that our small squad struggles to last the pace of a full season and falls off in the last few months. That could be exacerbated with an even smaller squad. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
The thing is, people often say "when everyone is fit" but the likelihood of any spell without injuries is unlikely, so when they come back, we might have a few out elsewhere. It has felt like some bad luck on the injury front but when you have a small squad to begin with, the added physical strain can lead to further injuries and by the time the physio room starts to clear up the strain on the current 11 might lead to a few issues. Im not saying we cant get into the top half but I think play offs are certainly a pipe dream. Im also sick of the "played well" but lost narrative after a home game. We have lost 7 at home I think and I feel like after most weve said how well we played for x minutes. When a pattern develops you maybe think it wont suddenly change. The lack of experience and numbers is killing us. -
v Watford (h) 23/12/23
roversfan99 replied to We Are The Rovers's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
There was certainly a lot of frustration and annoyance in the second half of that last season and also at a point during the season prior to covid. He was also lucky that his worst season here was behind closed doors. I have never sensed at all anything that suggests that people around me are in any way pining for Mowbray back or are dissatisfied with Tomasson. -
That *was* the January Window
roversfan99 replied to Herbie6590's topic in Blackburn Rovers Fans Messageboard
Gelhardt has ability but is not what we need, we need a number 9 and a winger first. Probably Nixon hedging his bets. Or maybe Broughton is scrambling for the Mowbray transfer list again?