1 hour ago, blondie said:

"lack of atmosphere".

Try going on and improving it. So many people using excuses, we will only achieve what's possible in the long run by the size of the club. Non attendance, waiting for the glory days to arrive;  or Venky's departure is  laughable.

Whilst I partially agree that essentially the key factor in improving the atmosphere is in the number of fans to begin with. I think you need to direct at least some if not all of your ire towards Waggott and his decision to significantly increase season ticket prices at a time when supporter happiness and interaction is at a high under the current ownership.

39 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

I tried to add a response at Naples airport however the WiFi is typically crud!

there is no pleasing some Rovers fans and some talk an absolute load of tripe! Over the past 12 months we have seen a solid rebuild, promotion and the squad being assembled that should bear fruit in the future and the club is on a sound footing YET some on here are unhappy. 

We are just 8 or 9 weeks into a new season, we have a 24 match unbeaten home record and we have just drawn against a big spending massive club in Aston Villa. We didn’t lose we got a point ffs! 

Yes we are a little miffed at conceding a 94th minute equaliser BUT get on with it, we move on to Derby.

The whiners on here are the reason why many members don’t bother commenting or even coming on here at all.

This is Brfc 2018!

 

The thing is, you're posting in the Aston Villa individual match thread. I have not seen anyone say it is a terrible result, a bad performance or anything like that. I have seen people comment both positively and negatively on aspects of the team performance, on individual performance, on refereeing decisions, on team selection and on substitutions, which is exactly what I would expect.

It isnt the "how have Rovers done in the last 12 months" thread otherwise I have no doubt that there would be universal positivity. So many people seem insistent on creating an atmosphere on here whereby because the club is clearly on an upward trajectory, that every bit of criticism, no matter if it is warranted or not, should be met with hostility.

Expressing disappointment in a last minute equaliser doesnt have to then be manipulated into unhappiness at the overall current situation of the club, or towards the managers future, or anything like that. Posts like this just take peoples opinions over individual, isolated incidents and take them out of context to make people seem unreasonable.

Go onto a Man City messageboard, a Barcelona one, whatever, when they drop points or when certain players under perform, they will also criticise that. Again, doesnt mean they think the clubs gone to wrack and ruin.

Please can you quote the "absolute load of tripe" that you have seen that is the reason that many members have been driven away from the messageboard.

Raya

Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Bell

Reed Evans

Bennett Dack Palmer

Graham

Subs: Leutwiler, Smallwood, Williams, Brereton, Rothwell, Armstrong, Downing

Think Palmer deserves to come in over Armstrong, and I don't think Graham deserves to surrender his shirt yet.

Central midfield is a judgement call to partner Evans, I have chosen Reed for his energy but I suspect Smallwood to play and he did improve yesterday.

Very tough game and we will need to be on it for 90 minutes.

Just seen the free kick award again, was really clever by Grealish and naive by Reed but a certain foul.

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

Which 2 games? 

Millwall one of the harder game for. 

Reading game should have been 3. 

Beat Brentford and a point against Villa. 

Millwall at home, a bottom half team at the moment who are reliant on their home form, is on paper one of the games that you would consider one of the more likely to pick up 3 points.

6 points is not the worst tally from 4 home games but another win from one of the 3 draws weve had would have made it a much brighter start.

21 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Thats why Mowbray change it

Firstly, officials in English football arent good enough. Thats why none went to world cup. Time FA, PL and FL invest more money in officials and the quality of them. 

On Palmer, not a game for him yesterday for me. Brereton did fine for me wide but should start up front on Tuesday. He was slow? Really? Maybe watch the game back? 

I would start Reed over Smallwood and Brereton for Graham. Other than that same time. 

 

I thought Graham was poor until Brereton came on. He upped his game after that. I think he thought he was coming off when Evans went off. 

I know but my point was, contrary to some opinions, the officials poor performance affected both teams, rather than just us.

Please stop speaking in such a patronising manner, Brereton was right in front of me and I didnt see him take his man on at any point really, he didnt look sharp, (perhaps aprtially due to lack of game time) he threw himself over too many times and he failed to impact the game but I do take into account that he was out of position and it was only 35 minutes. I hope playing him wide isnt something that Mowbray will do going forward as he has with other forwards.

Graham held the ball up expertly on the rare occasions that we got him involved but I thought that his main problem was the support to him; Dack was involved as ever but he got tackled quite a lot and his final ball wasnt up to his usual high standards, and Armstrong was barely involved and never ran at Hutton.

4 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

We have started well, but we have actually been unlucky. We should be on 12-13 points,if not more. I think we will only get better too 

I dont think you can blame luck to be fair. We will get what we deserve over the season.

Brentford I missed but from all accounts, sounds like we ground out the result, something that really impressed me. The Reading game was a shocking first half and a spirited second half, I dont think we could justifiably say we could have had more points there.

Bristol City is the only game that we were totally outclassed in, and also learnt what you need to do when dominant with a ruthless display. We can file that under "one of those days." On the flip side, Hull away we were similarly dominant and although we didnt put them to the sword like Bristol City did to us, we got an away win which was a good result.

Milwall, Ipswich and Aston Villa are the 3 games that rankle a bit. Milwall we didnt deserve to win but we had the chances to do so in the second half. The latter 2, we need to make sure that we keep concentration until the end of games or it will cost us, we invited pressure v a very poor Ipswich and made poor subs in that game, and yesterday I think Rayas positioning and preparation of his wall was to blame.

That said, our points tally is ok but I am a bit frustrated as it could be better based on how the games have gone, and the quality of opposition we have faced so far. I have no doubts that we can be competitive as we have shown, but we need to turn more draws into wins and ensure that the 2 late goals are not a regular theme.

And @chaddyrovers even though we are hard to beat at home we need to turn more draws into wins going forward. You fail to mention the 2 favourable home games we have failed to win.

9 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

We proved yesterday and against Brentford(2nd now) we can match these more quality teams. 

We can compete but my point is that we have some tougher games coming up away from home. 

I have a slight worry that we will rue the points we have thrown away in what has been a quite favourable fixture list in these first 7 days. We need to be far more ruthless in seeing games out, that said, we have shown we can be competitive.

We are in a situation at the moment hovering in mid table with some much more challenging looking games coming up.

It will be an acid test for the quality in our team. If the games go as no doubt expected by neutrals, we will soon be in a battle and ruing the points weve surrendered with plenty of regret.

If we get an impressive number of points then we will also really show that we can compete at this level.

Even with the wall as it was, Raya should have been one step over to his right, he shouldnt have been beaten at that near post, Hourihane was always going to go for that side.

Raya had a good day in terms of claiming the ball and did one brilliant throw to set up a counter attack, but again got very lucky when he ran out by slicing the ball back into play when he should have put it in the stands. He does this almost every game and I'm amazed that it hasnt been nipped in the bud by both him and the goalkeeping coach.

Officials had a very poor day but again it wasnt a conspiracy against Rovers. As unlucky as we were to see a goal wrongly ruled out, we should have conceded a blatant penalty.

Brereton should never play wide, he looked like a fish out of water in a position that Forest fans suggested he was ineffective in there. They also said he throws himself to the floor a lot and he certainly did a few times. Hopefully its more fitness based than desire but the intensity in chasing people down just wasnt there and he seemed a lot slower than I expected and more ponderous. We all know that our squad lacks wingers but Palmer should have been brought on over him to play that role.

I do wonder who will start on Tuesday. Reed was very impressive albeit naive to give away the critical free kick. That said, I cant see him breaking up Evans and Smallwood. Further forward, Dack is a given. (Although I thought he wasnt at his best yesterday, was trying things but they often didnt come off) Palmer was unlucky not to start and deserves to come back in over Armstrong. So if its a straight fight between Graham, Brereton and Armstrong to be number 9. The latter 2 may fancy bringing mobility but Armstrong has been poor so far this season and Brereton hasnt done anything in his cameos to put him above Graham so id probably stick with him.

Very surprised to be the first to vote Mulgrew as man of the match, thought he stood out.

9 minutes ago, RV Blue said:

Some utter THE WORD I HAVE TRIED TO USE DESERVES A BAN on here saying Raya was at fault for their goal, it’s one of the best free kicks I’ve ever seen. No keeper positions his wall 2 yards outside of the near post. It’s just one of those things. A keeper let in a good free kick, big deal.

Mowbray is also a word that deserves a ban, in that he thinks we should have had 2 more players in the wall. 

Also seen the 2 main decisions again, first instinct at the ground was it was a McGinn dive. It was a penalty having seen it again. That said, our first goal looks valid.

Horrible and slightly worryingly familiar feeling to that late goal. 

Didnt think Dack was at his best and thought he was lucky to get man of the match but clever flick for the goal, always a threat. Mulgrew was our best player, superb both defensively and on the ball, especially as a flying right winger for the goal. Reed was very good but poor to give away the free kick. Evans and Smallwood were fine but Reed a step up today. 

Big question marks over Raya again for the goal. Terrible organisation of a wall and should never be beaten at that side.

Lenihan had an absolute shocker, made a number of terrible errors and poor on the ball. Brereton was really poor and sluggish when he came on as much as the role he played doesnt suit him. Armstrong may as well have sat in the stands with me.

We were definitely competitive but we need to cut out conceding late goals.

47 minutes ago, Al said:

Chaddy made as perfectly reasonable point so simply because it's him you took the concept to a ridiculous  level just to have a pop at him.

Thats totally unfair.

Rickys point was an extreme case of how the situation isnt as black and white as chaddy portrayed by implying that anything off the pitch is nothing to do with us. If his "private life" involves him doing things that get him in court risking a custodial sentence, and put himself and his club in the negative media spotlight then it becomes very much relevant.

Chaddy then replied by calling Ricky a "clever ass" before then inevitably playing the victim when he got a bit back.

16 minutes ago, Tom said:

Mahoney didn’t get on again yesterday, he got a big move but his career doesn’t seem any further along than it was.

Even if he had stayed, I dont think he would have got near our team last season.

6 hours ago, Paul said:

It's precisely the same. The item is lost and there is a replacement cost. Whether or not one choses to break the law by not replacing a driving licence is irrelevant as it's a separate and personal decision. You can similarly chose to stop watching Rovers by not replacing your ST - the only difference being legality.

Apparently the £10 charge is in the T&C's. Like the vast majority I've never read these, you haven't as you'd be aware of the charge. The T&C's will be published by the club. You complain you weren't informed of these charges. Do you want to be read out a series of statements when you purchase a ticket as is the case with insurance etc? That's the alternative. It simply would not work. Imagine buying a match ticket over the phone?

As a general point, rather than the specific ST charge, the club is a business. It needs to do all it can to at least cover costs. It seems a section of the support find this unreasonable and expect those costs to be funded elsewhere. Every effort to cover costs is criticised by those who believe they know better ways to run a football club. I'm still waiting to see concrete proposals on this.

It makes no sense and is unrealistic to expect the club to be run in any fashion other than attempting to cover costs.

I personally dont see a massive problem to charge people for losing season ticket cards, in that its a system thats been in place for a while, rather than a policy that has been in place for a while, but I totally get why it rubs some peoples noses up the wrong way.

The issue is not in that people feel like the charge isnt properly advertised for me, if its in the T&C then legally theres nothing any of us can say, and I think its grasping at straws to suggest otherwise. Its the need to charge in general, recouping a minimal amount surely in the grand scheme of things, at the cost of our goodwill. As @blueboy3333 has said in his excellent post, the main thing at play here is unwavering customer loyalty in that we are in a fairly unique situation whereby there is no alternative product or service to choose from, therefore anyone who loses their season ticket card will obviously stump up the tenner.

The concrete proposal here would be not to charge the £10, as a very small showing of goodwill, its pretty simple. Maybe cap it, if you lose it three times or more in a season then maybe charge a tenner because there will obviously be very small costs associated with it. 

Regarding the sentence in bold, no one is saying on here that they know how to run the football club, just as if people offer constructive criticism against potential new signings without offering detailed scouting reports on alternative signings, or offer their opinions on team selections, they arent offering themselves forward to replace Mowbray. Just because none of us would be capable of running a football club or managing a Championship football side, it doesnt mean that we cant offer constructive opinions and its a really irritating argument to suggest that we cant, rendering the whole messageboard null and void.

My main gripes have been regarding the individual decisions that the club, headed by Waggott seemingly, have made off their own backs, rather than continuing this £10 charge that was in place back pre-Venkys. Closing the Darwen End, and significantly increasing season ticket prices at a point whereby supporter engagement with the club is at a high under the stewardship of these owners, stunting the potential to start getting fans back through the doors, are the 2 recent decisions that I feel were ones that bring Waggotts role, after taking responsibility for these, into potential question.

10 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

I watched the game at times and I agree Birmingham wont score a lot of goals. With an embargo in place Monk job is very tough there. 

I think West Brom will score a lot of goals with Gayle, Jay Rod and Barnes who is a talented player in their team. I think Townsend is a good player and suits the left wing back role. I don't see where Burke fits in. Maybe Mowbray will be looking at that situation and possible targeting him in January or Summer transfer window. I think the 3 at the back suits their centre backs and allow those to play. I disagree on Brunt and Livermore point tho. Yes they did get overrun but I do feel that they should have change it to 3 man midfield second with Barners off Gayle or Jay Rod. Jota was getting too much space for me. 

As much as I'd love Burke here, not sure why you think he would even possibly be a target, given his potentially large price tag and Mowbrays winger-phobia!

I think the 3 in the back formation seems to be the fashionable system at the moment but I'm not 100% that they have the personnel for it, in that they have them 3 very capable Championship defenders but they are all rough and tumble, body on the line, but none are that good on the ball which you need in that formation and they kept surrendering possession. It also means that Harvey Barnes and Oli Burke have to play centrally if at all, which doesnt suit them.

Definitely think that West Brom have the best firepower in the league, 2 big questions are can a rookie manager get the best out of them, and also if they can get goals and clean sheets in spite of a lack of control in the centre of the park, where Brunt and Livermore will be seen as a weakness against better teams in this league.

Not sure if anyone watched the game tonight. Birmingham full of endeavour but there wont be a less prolific strikeforce than Che Adams, Omar Bogle and Lukas Jukweitcz. Simply nowhere near good enough for this league. Only good player is Jota but on the right, and being so one footed, he can at times be easily shackled, although he was their only shining light tonight.

Had a dreadful summer and I can see them going down. Underwhelming manager with nothing to work with, as a subs bench of Bogle, Mahoney and Solomon-Otobar as attacking options to come on.

West Brom have a strikeforce as good as you will get in this league, some talented, direct wingers, some very good centre backs, a good keeper, 2 competent left backs but not sure about the 3 at the back and whether it suits 3 solid but technically limited defenders. Weakness for me is in the middle of the park, Livermore is crap and Brunt is past it and never a central midfielder, they will get overrun often as they did today.

Big question is, can Moore get the best out of the likes of Gayle, Phillips, Rodriguez, Barnes and Oli Burke who needs to play more, and the team in general. Ive seen them twice this season and theyve been poor in both games and lucky to scrape points in each through goals from Phillips.

1 hour ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Whilst it is obviously fair to criticise Dack for his silly mistake - as was done on the Bradley Dack thread -  you do have to apply context when trying to compare reactions between players. Dack has been creating and scoring goals consistently since arriving; Gladwin has been consistently injured and has had the accusations of bragging whilst tanked up to add onto it. Had Gladwin been put in Dack's situation the reaction would be totally different and rightly so too. However, the reaction "in isolation" would be the same - that it is incredibly naive and stupid to think you'd get away with it, regardless of your community value.

I wasn't calling you frothing at the mouth but more commenting on some of the rather Victorian style comments you see on social media these days about 'criminals'. There is a minority (yet still seems overwhelming) that champion disproportionate punishments for crimes committed.

 

Agreed that regardless of whichever player had done what Dack has done, he would deserve the deserved criticism he has received. What he did was immature, lacking in remorse and risking making himself unavailable for games in which we need him, unnecessarily. That is the main issue for me, im not one for the whole "role model" argument but even so it still brings the club into disrepute no matter how you put your argument across. That said, I also take on board that say if it had been Gladwin, you coulf justifiably say his on the field performances arent worth the off the field aggravation this kind of thing causes. With Dack, its equally as unacceptable but hes certainly earnt his money on the pitch.

It would be churlish and narrow minded to totally brush it under the carpet as some have done, insisting that it is his "private life" because it stops being his private life when hes publically reported in court for committing a crime and failing to turn up for his punishment on three seperate occasions. If it had been his relationship, his family or anything like that, then id agree but this is not comparable.

I will take your word on the other comments you have seen but havent seen them personally. Every criticism I have seen has been within the context of what he has done, not saying that he SHOULD have been locked up or received stronger punishment.

To conclude though, I have judged him on what he has done but I like any other fan hope he starts tomorrow and continues to entertain us, and make us happy by scoring and making goals. We need him firing and I hope he continues to do as he has for the rest of his career here. And I hope hes here for a long time, and the off the field stuff isnt repeated and he learns his lesson.

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

There were quotes from him in the LT saying pretty much this

When I typed it they hadnt been published, I have retracted the criticism and commended Mowbray for not publically ignoring it.

1 hour ago, Butty said:

There’s nothing at all to suggest he was NEARLY jailed, talk about making a mountain out of a molehill!!  I’m sick of hearing about this whole Dack thing, he’s made a mistake. We move on, he’ll score on Saturday and hopefully it will never be mentioned on here again ???

Why continue the conversation if you are sick of it? Like I have said, I am fully behind him but it doesnt make what he did right. If he scores, it wont change my (positive) opinion on him overall. I suspect if this was say Ben Gladwin, people would have stopped short at jumping on people for commenting on a serious, and hopefully isolated issue, when in essence his footballing ability is irrelevant to this conversation.

1 hour ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

I couldn't care less if Dack nearly went to to prison as long as he keeps banging goals in whilst wearing Rovers colours. I hope this archaic need for social justice doesn't spill into any (minority I'm sure) fans booing him or anything like that. Social media tends to bring to light the frothing of the mouth types who pray for the days we lock minor criminals up for 35 years in isolation or make utter social pariahs of anyone who has made mistakes. Until, of course, a member of their own inner circle make those same mistakes.......but I digress

 Dack is the most exciting player we have had for half a decade - we should support him more than berate him. He's a grown man and I'm sure his own conscience tells him he's been an idiot. Likewise I'm certain Mowbray, Mulgrew and the other dressing room characters have told him what is at stake. He doesn't need us to constantly remind him of the silly situation he has been in. I for one hope he receives a rapturous reception on Saturday so the whole audience on Sky sees that he's wanted at this club despite his off the field troubles.

 

Totally agree on the booing, he deserves and undoubtedly will get the full support, doesnt mean he doesnt deserve criticism for an isolated incident. I still have a very positive opinion on him, he is still our best player. And I am not frothing at the mouth. Just like if he misses a sitter tomorrow or scores an own goal, people will criticise him but still rate him, things can be judged in isolation. 

9 hours ago, tomphil said:

It's odd they never paid him off when they were letting others go and I fear that might be down to his heavy contract.  If he came for very little on modest wages it was just another gamble that didn't work but if he cost and earns some of the figures banded about it was a bollock dropped.

A signing made in good faith or favour but was never destined to work out and I wouldn't be surprised if he just sits out his contract I doubt there'll be a queue waiting to sign him.

Suppose its one of them where Whittingham and Caddis may have been more open to compromise in that they are not injured and can look for another club, whereas Gladwin is sat on a year contract and hes injured for that timespan. He will want to use our facilities to recover and theres no point paying off his full contract at once.

7 hours ago, barry_ said:

zzzzzzzzz

talk about making a molehill into a mountain.

Bore off.

We've got a massive game on Saturday.

Everything else is just blah blah blah.

Get over yourselves and your fake indignation

Good, well balanced post.

How is it making a mountain out of a molehill? Our best player nearly was put in jail. Its a serious issue amidst the back drop of an international break with little else to talk about, in which the majority of posters seem to have scarpered as soon as the transfer window was closed.

I know we have a massive game tomorrow and I will be there desperately hoping that we win and Dack plays 90 minutes and puts in another good performance. But that doesnt mean what he has done is anything other than unacceptable, and significant.

I know the thread has gone off on a bit of a tangent so I will happily leave it here. 

2 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Feel sorry for them both. I know what it's like missing the game you love through long term injury and it's much worse for them because it's their livelihood and their career. Samuel knew it was a make or break season for him and worked very hard on his own in the summer to improve his fitness and was showing distinct signs of improvement before his injury. Gladwin has ability but needs to play regularly, which is very unlikely at Ewood now; I doubt we'll see him in a Rovers shirt again. 

Totally agree with your sentiments about the misfortune of injury. 

I dont agree that Gladwin has ability, nor that Samuel was showing "distinct signs of improvement."

45 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Rovers stories on the back page not the front page. I posted links but I have no idea which page of the paper there is on apart from being in the Sport section of the paper website!

I did say Brexit, etc. maybe you read my post properly. 

Yet again, I told you my view. I will repeat for you, In my view he hasn't brought the club into disrepute. if you disagree fine but that's my view. 

Like I have said previously, Dack is entitled to his private life. Mowbray and the club will sort that out. We should be focus on football and not discussing Dack private life. it has nothing to do with you. The same with the picture the night before the Bristol City some people went OTT for no reason at all. The cheating on the missus was an example of the media reporting non stories to fill column spaces cos they is nothing else to reported. 

Just for clarity, committing a crime and failing on 3 occasions to show up to his community service, risking a prison sentence, and having a night out, or cheating on his missus (is this even true?) are too totally seperate issues. I never commented on the latter, only on the crime and lack of remorse, and risk of missing games locked up.

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Yes he made a comment publicly Mowbray has but Dack has not. 

oh the front pages of the papers, its a shame these papers haven't got better stories to write with the amount of other news more relevant to the public like Brexit, etc. 

For me, He has not brought the club into disrepute and that's my view. 

I always believe that footballers are entitled to a private life and should be allowed that. I couldn't care what most footballers get up to or whether they cheat on the missus. I aint interested. 

Even for you, this is a senseless post.

So you think the newspapers should be 100% Brexit stories? I suppose the daily articles on Rovers that you post can also make way for sole focus on Brexit stories?

Of course he brought the club into disrepute, he committed a crime! Doesnt mean hes not our most important player but he still did very wrong/

What has cheating on his missus got to do with anything? Or his private life? He committed a crime then failed to do the required punishment on three seperate occasions, coming at severe risk of jail time.

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

Or you can handle it behind close doors like Mowbray and the club have done. Football players are entitled to a private life and in my opinion what they do in their private life has nothing to do with us unless it affects their football performance on the pitch. 

Mowbray has knowledge what he has done but no way has he brought the club into disrepute at all. 

Has it affected his performances last season or even this season? 

He hasnt handled it behind closed doors, hes done the opposite and been quoted in the paper about it, correctly IMO.

Its not a private life to be on the front pages of the papers nearly getting put in jail for failing to do community service after assaulting a policeman. And it affects the manager wasting his time in court and it would have affected us all had he been put in jail, which he very nearly was.

How you can say he has not brought the club into disrepute is beyond me.

You dont have to blindly defend every single action without reason.