roversfan99

There are one or two exceptions who have cooked up a senseless conspiracy that the manager is purposely avoiding a potential promotion. Clearly that makes zero sense. But Mowbray does have/has had his favourites, or has done, just like a large proportion of managers. Bennett was being actively chosen fairly regularly out of position just because "he takes the plan out onto the pitch" up until half way through last season, when that thankfully stopped. Gallagher was also repeatedly and unsuccessfully played out wide ad nauseum. Mulgrew and Smallwood were given a chance in the Championship, although were removed far quicker than the above too, so far less scope for criticism there.

Its never been something that I can understand that to be honest. If we win, I am happy on Saturday evening, if we lose, I am gutted. I dont ever remember any exceptions. Unfathomable to me personally that you could see Rovers win a game and come off feeling anything but joyous. I get that there is the entertainment factor but for me it only because an issue when you are losing games. With Big Sam, there was a short term necessity to stay up, with an under funded squad and a needs must mentality. Going off on a tangent, I think that there is an unprecedented amount of snobbery these days in regards to styles offootball. If a manager does not embrace playing out from the back, although passing it across the defence is hardly exhilarating, the manager is behind the times apparently. Going off on a tangent, but ask someone about Dyches Burnley v maybe Potters Brighton, one is a boring Northern snooze-fest and one is a modern, forward thinking approach. Media perceptions aside, Burnley scored more goals and finished higher up. The current style is one that I can get behind but more so because it suits the squad we have rather than anything else, if there was an alternative that could get more points, I would prefer that.

Gallagher definitely should be a sub option in the central role but I am sure that he will play on the right at some point sadly.

Yeah he retired. Not sure they have an alternative/back up for Digne.

Yeah he looked very promising. Only thing I would say is that he wasnt testes much defensively and has little experience. Would he help to keep the goals out? But he looked good in the cup games I watched. Ideally even if it is on loan id prefer a more experienced option, Cunningham being the ideal example. Another question might be if Everton would let him go out on loan. Baines has left and they might be short of options beyond Digne. I understand what you are saying, a starting left back has to be a priority. If possible though a midfielder would be ideal as I am not sure that we have enough. We have the 3 currently doing the job, although Rothwell could be needed further forward at times and Holtby has had injury issues. Evans will be a welcome return but again he has injury problems. Buckley good to have around. Not much faith in Davenport it seems. In an ideal world we could get one more in there if the budget allows after a LB and GK. I dont really subscribe to the theory that signing players blocks the path of those we already have. If Buckley and co have the quality there is no reason that they cant play regularly either way, especially with games coming thick and fast.

There is no reason why if Buckley is ready, that he couldnt break through even with an additional midfielder to be fair. We have Johnson and Holtby, who has had injury problems, and Rothwell who is also needed wide left. Then Evans to come back who of course is injury prone, and with Travis out for a few months, I think we are one light in there.

There is no link to him and I am not suggesting that we sign him but did anyone watch the 2 Everton League cup games on TV in recent weeks? They had a very impressive young left back called Niels Nkonkou who put more crosses in 2 games than our full backs have under Mowbray full stop. Signed from Marseille B Team. It would be a huge question over whether he could demand, he was playing Salford and Fleetwood so he got to show his attacking sidee but though it is worth a mention.

I struggle to totally seperate performance and results to be honest. I didnt overly enjoy the Bournemouth and Newcastle performances because we lost, the former was quite even and the latter was a game where much of our possession was not in harmful positions, I didnt feel that we really battered the door down. The main enjoyment from the last 2 has been the thrashings handed out. The style was key but the main thing was watching us win so convincingly. It is difficult not to get carried away with 2 thrashings but it is far too early to be making such hyperbolic statements I think. That being said, there are certainly quite a few things to be cautiously optimistic about. In terms of the style, nothing is more entertaining than seeing Rovers win. The reason that I like the current style is, perhaps with a few tweaks at times, it suits many of the players we have.

A solitary player from Europe would undoubtedly be an underwhelming return from a scouting network Of course covid may have affected things and also I appreciate that you dont sign foreign players to justify it, ie Ayala is someone I am very happy with. Doesnt sound like we are close or actively chasing any signings and indeed the amount of players that we want has dropped by a further one. I just hope that we havent gained a false sense of security based on the 2 wins. Bell had arguably his best game for us on Saturday but we know long term that he isnt up to it, we need a first choice LB, not competition. We also could do with another midfielder really, Davenport has never started a game and Buckley is nice to have around but we could do with a more ready made alternative, especially as we have big demands on the central midfield and scope for Rothwell to play further forward. I dont see why any sane club would loan us a keeper to sit on the bench, surely thats a job for a freebie.

A game we should be looking to win. I have no snobbery towards Cardiff's style at all, a very effective and well managed side with Moore a big threat up front and plenty of width. For all the hype regarding the 2 wins, a loss and our start is the same as last year, underwhelming. A win which is a reasonable expectation and it puts a marker down.

My point is more that the league table for the under 23s is not that meaningful. The purpose of the league is development, not finishing as well as possible, obviously thats a bonus. Of course, the first statement is an opinion. I dont think that Lewis Travis gets close to Man United team, thats not a slight on him because we arent at that standard, none of our players get close to it. There is also Rashford and Greenwood to consider, special talents who broke through very quickly. I think its dangerous to label a whole clutch of young players as better, worse or indeed equal based on performance in the under 23s league, thats my point. Indeed all youth players need to be judged individually for a start, Travis shouldnt be judged in the same batch as say Magloire as if they are on par, because they arent. That is something you touch on, dismissing our younger players compared to United, but conversely you cant do similar based on their under 23 league position, because as mentioned earlier, the under 23 league is just one of many tools that clubs have to develop their players, not a perfect gauge of how good a clubs younger players are.

Thats an incredibly big claim to say that its all about perception. Did McTominay even play much for their under 23s at United? Travis might be a very good player at our level but he certainly isnt on McTominays level, never mind Buckley. I remember you making a similar comparison between Hudson Odoi and Rankin Costello, but theres no way that the latter makes a big impact for England and Chelsea. The under 23s league is essentially a tool, for example McTominay will be coming up against top class midfielders in training every day. League tables at that level of course are of some relevance but different clubs will use it differently. Another tool is to loan players out and play real football like Wharton has done. Not saying that we shouldnt be placing importance in the kids but at the end of the day the under 23s league isnt geared as a competitive gauge in the same way that a normal league is and indeed sometimes young lads will essentialy bypass age groups. Its hard to assume that our young lads are better or worse based on the under 23 league table. They dont need to be I suppose either. Also worth factoring in that some of our young lads were let go by bigger teams which is a good tactic.

Has Warnock rejoined Cardiff in the last few days?

A quick look reveals that it is another randomer making up rumours to desperately impress a small twitter following. A couple of weeks ago the names were Manning which turned out to be bollocks due to price and Garbutt who went to Blackpool. One to be ignored.

As if he wouldnt walk into our team either.

The commentary wasnt in sync for me on Saturday so I changed to the Derby audio which had no commentary.

We dont need a centre back. (Just always wanted to say that)

Ultimately tonight was only a fitness exercise for Ayala, his quality is undoubted and playing against kids wouldnt have taught Mowbray anything. Ultimately his only real barrier at the moment is 2 clean sheets and 2 wins meaning that Williams and Lenihan have the shirts at the moment.

He could never stay fit either.

Dont tend to watch the under 23s but stuck the first half on once it became clear that Fulham Villa was over and having seen the team. Rovers primary attacking threat was Chapman, when he came in loan he was a bag of energy and pace, he definitely has lost a bit of pace but there is some substance to him and quality. Burns and Mols wouldnt really scare you as a defender. Buckley not as influential as youd want IMO. Hard to judge Ayala in a game like this because his worth comes in proper games facing proper men, but hes very vocal and looks like a senior pro playing with kids who just knows where to be and invariably is in the right place.

To be fair with Joao, he is the type of player who scores a couple of goals and does nothing for a couple of months. Unreliable.

True, I just think it easier to give attacking players cameos, rarely do you see a centre back coming on for 20 minutes unless its in addition to the defenders already to hold onto a league. The 2 week gap might come at a good time in terms of arranging a friendly or two to get minutes into Ayala, Gallagher, and maybe a few on the fringes like Davenport, Buckley, Chapman etc.

Rhodes had his most prolific season playing in his first season in a 4-4-1-1, with either Gomes, Kazim Richards, Dunn and Rochina playing as number 10s, and then towards the end of that season, in a 4-3-3/4-5-1. He got 28 league goals. He consistently scored goals for us regardless of the style played (including when we went direct to suit Gestede) the formation played or the players around him.

He was that good, he is well past his peak now, but at his peak, he was a brilliant and seemingly underappreciated Championship striker.

The 3 players at the bottom are players who were out on loan last season who have since left permanently. Ejaria was there last year, a very talented player who they made permanent.