10 hours ago, Mike E said:

How was it? 

It was definitely had a big occasion feel to it. I’d always said I wasn’t going to the new Wembley til Rovers got there, but my brother evidently got sick of waiting and really wanted to go to AEW. My immediate realisation was it’s not that new any more, and unsurprisingly, being up in the nosebleed seats isn’t great for actually watching wrestling (or football I imagine).

It was busy but not anywhere near full, strangely there was barely anyone under 18 in the entire stadium. Crowd had its moments but wasn’t nearly as lively as I expected. Perhaps this was due to the length of the show.

The set and production values were fantastic. The music rights and pyro costs will have been into the millions. I’ve been to WWE, TNA and WCW events before, obviously not on this scale, but this was on recent WWE level. I was reliant on the big screens to see what was going on and the camera work was largely ok, missed a few bits but not bad.

The in ring highlight was the CM Punk v Samoa Joe match. The Stadium Stampede was dreadful and the crowd were bored throughout it. Saraya winning and celebrating with the family was cool. There were way too many false finishes in every match for my liking with everyone kicking out of everything over and over again which makes it all seem a bit formulaic. I also wish they’d enforce rules. This really hurt the FTR v Bucks match. I’m glad they kept the daftness to a level lower than I expected (Jack Perry and Moxley aside) and I’m glad they resisted the temptation to do anything too ludicrous. However, far too many hardcore matches/spots. Jericho wasn’t as insufferable as I was expecting, Sting was a great bit of nostalgia (especially with the entrance), I don’t get the hype with Ospreay and found Omega’s match boring. The acclaimed were great fun. MJF loses so much of what makes him great as a baby face, but he’s come a long way since I last saw him on these shores and bought him a pint of dark fruits in the Stanley Arms in Preston!

Overall it was a great occasion and the in ring action was a mixed bag but leaning towards decent overall. This was special due to a 30 year hiatus, doing another in 12 months is not a smart move.

Just now, Aqualung said:

According to the Rovers website a record attendance..... Yet  it doesn't mention how many... Typical. 

Anybody know? 

Around 1,030 I think

Just been to my first Rovers Women’s game and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Definitely be going again.

We need to be a lot better defensively here and the enforced change to the back 4 is not ideal. Gallagher has to start and Ennis must be getting close to one. I’d go…

                               Pears

Brittain       Carter           Hyam      JRC

                    Travis          Wharton

Hedges              Szmodics        Gallagher

                               Ennis

Travis just gets the nod as Tronstad is still getting up to speed, but based on pre-season and Walsall I’d like to see Garrett get a few more chances too. Defensive options on the bench look very limited. I’d have Gilsenan among the subs before Markanday.

Anybody else going to All In?

I genuinely feel like we can feel hard done by coming away with nothing from that game.

A day to forget for all the defenders. Pickering losing his head was costly. JRC with his worst performance in a long time, although he was massively hamstrung with us being a man down and not able to do what he is best at. Hyam was very poor, I’m still to be convinced by Brittain, Carter did pretty well until he switched off for a moment. We could’ve done with a Danny Batth type today. Pears nailed on MOTM at 0-0 (haven’t seen a replay yet).

Travis showed his strengths and weaknesses in equal measure. Some great moments (usually when facing their goal) and some absolute shockers (usually when facing our goal).

Gallagher was excellent today, playing from a wide position, which is where I think we’ll see him going forward. Ennis impressed too. Hopefully they are both fit enough to start next week.

Looks like the massive amounts of injury time was a one off gimmick for the first round of matches only. Few refereeing decisions I want to see back that looked badly wrong. No complaints on the big one though, Pickering had to go.

A centre back and a full back are an absolute must asap. Maybe even more so than a centre forward.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Gallagher in one of the wide forward roles tomorrow.

I’d love to see a JRC and Wharton midfield partnership.

Big test with Hull quietly doing good business and off the back of a good win last week, but I think our home advantage makes us favourites.

I’m going 2-1

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

I would like Brittain in the team as I rated highly but its how can he get in the team. I might be tempted to play JRC from the right with midfield trio of Wharton, Tronstad and Szmodics for the Hull game. 

I’d be reluctant to push JRC out wide. For the 75 or so minutes he’s played central midfield he’s been massively influential there. A lot of his best work from fullback comes from when he drifts into a central midfield area and I wouldn’t sacrifice the massive impact he has for the sake of Brittain. Also, Brittain stays a lot wider than JRC when he plays and they’d probably get in each others way if they were occupying the same wing. 

I think Dolan comes in for a lot of harsh criticism on here, but he’s pissed me off the last couple of weeks. That stupid attempt at the open goal with the outside of his boot was ridiculous… just needed a simple finish. 

When he keeps it simple he’s good. The attempts at the outrageous that never come off are getting really tiresome now. I think it needs to be an either/or with him and Markanday, and to me Dolan is still a fair way ahead. Hedges needs a start next week for sure though.

JRC attracted quite a bit of Premier League interest with his performances last season, but the general consensus is he isn’t fast enough to play full back in the Premier League. He’s very keen to show what he can do further forward. Again yesterday he grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and completely dictated things. I know they were a man down, but JRC and Wharton could very quickly become the best midfield in the league. It’s interesting that the first option was to move him forward despite Buckley, Tronstad and Garrett all being on the bench.

I’m not fully convinced by Brittain, but he is definitely a brilliant attacking outlet when we are dominating possession. Hopefully a decent run in the side will just sharpen him up a bit and help him retain the ball a bit better.

All that shows is that relying completely on stats leads to delusion. They deservedly hammered us that day. We were shite.

24 minutes ago, philipl said:

Daft as It may seem, I would be reasonably OK with playing reasonably similarly to last season provided we convert our chances and cut out the brain dead defending which gifted them their chances and goals.

Anyone looking at the overall match stats without knowing the score would never guess the home side had won 4-0.

What I am hoping for is some real devilment in Rovers play to go with the improvement in moving the ball around at pace. 

Stoke showed how it needs to be done against Rotherham on Saturday but even they gifted the Millers a goal.

 

 

That’s completely daft Philip. Our display against them at their place last season was disgraceful and embarrassing. I’m guessing the stats show we had lots of possession, which was 90% centre backs playing one-two’s. We didn’t put a tackle in all afternoon and were completely hopeless in the final third.

I’ll be furious if we ever turn in a performance reasonably similar to that one ever again.

1-0 JRC

1. Who will win this year’s Championship ?

Leicester

2. Who will claim runners-up spot ?

Southampton

3. Who will finish rock bottom in the Championship ?

Plymouth Argyle

4. Where will Rovers finish this season in the league ?

5th*

5. How many league goals will Rovers score this season ?

57

6. Who will win the BRFCS POTY ?

A.Wharton
 

*based on hope more than expectation

9 minutes ago, Colt Seavers said:

If we are keeping JRC at right back I would drop Pickering for Brittain. 

Pickering is far too slow and laboured. I'm tired of seeing him targeted week in, week out.

I’m not a fan of right footers at left back and think Wallace would run rings round Brittain. Pickering’s lack of pace has been very telling during pre-season though, and I think Batty could make the position his own by the end of the season.

As things currently stand I’d expect us to line up:

                      Kaminski 

JRC        Carter       Hyam     Pickering

                 Tronstad   Travis

Hedges        Szmodics           Dolan

                     Leonard                    
 

I’d obviously prefer Wharton in for Travis. I’d also prefer Markanday in as he’s earnt a start this pre-season. I’d also be tempted to move JRC onto the other wing and play Brittain. Hoping Gilsenan and Batty make the bench.

That’s literally the answer Waggott gave when I asked him the question. I don’t think it’s anything to do with tax changes, when you look at what he says in the fans forum minutes it’s pressure/sanctions from the Indian Government that has come as a surprise and led to a change in the budget. We might have a whole new problem to deal with when the tax rules change.

6 minutes ago, Songman said:

Cracking playlist. Always thought life in a northern town should feature. What's chances of playlist being similar going forward?

Well seeing as they completely ballsed up today I’m going to push for it to be done properly next week.

I was murderous when I walked into the ground to the sound of the Killers.

19 minutes ago, pk1875 said:

Sorry if I'm late to the party today. Was all geared up to wander down to Ewood today. Spent a bit of time on social media to build upto the game and stumbled across the radio Lancashire interview. How this can be described as the best it's been in 10 years left me stunned. 

In fact it Totally put me off going. I appreciate the time you guys put into running the Trust, and what a thankless task it can seem at times. However there is building bridges and then there is becoming a PR outlet for the board.

If the Trust truly feel this is a good time for the club, then God help us. Even JDT is kept in the dark. 

 

 

JDT hadn’t dropped last nights bombshell when that interview was recorded.

I spoke to Steve Waggott briefly before the game and highlighted the concerns that everyone had after last night as discussed on the other thread with @Mattybluelast night.

He reiterated what he said in the fans forum the other week - our budget has been cut due to government pressures on Venky’s, they need to cut costs and will need to sell players to fund signings. He knows we need players, so we need to trade but we will also be reliant on the academy players coming through. He’s hopeful Venky’s can “sort it out” but until they do that’s the reality. JDT is no different from any other manager in that he wants players and money for them, he’s had the situation explained to him. That’s where we are at.

3 minutes ago, Andy said:

Good point on the music - some of it was bob-on.

The Beatles song just before KO didn’t really fit though for me. Get the reference, but it’s really not a pre-match tune.

Overall, a lot better than usual though.

The music went disastrously despite our (my) best efforts. They didn’t bother playing anything til way too late. This is what it was supposed to look like…

The playlist and instructions weren’t followed.

9 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

Has Duncan asked them to play up front ? 😆

Starting place up front tomorrow as one of the raffle prizes 🤔

Share far and wide…

https://twitter.com/roverstrust/status/1684933758338605057?s=46&t=WI0SqBaDalGKV9qv2YLVIw

I think 5,000 is something of a “blue sky” target. Quite literally. If the weather was like it was a month ago I think it would definitely happen. A lot of the walk ons will be weather dependent though.

Both the club and the Trust would love to see the gate hit 5k, but that can’t be our only success measure.

3 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

Don't believe so as that would cut across Rovers concessions...presume the FanZone is opening as usual though...

 

Fanzone will be open along with the Footy Curry stall, beer sheds, and possibly Finch Bakery

1 minute ago, wilsdenrover said:

They’re stealing your ideas already 😁

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2023/july/24/choose-our-tunes-/

 

Yep. They were tagged in the almost identical Tweet I put out last week, and all the responses. A retweet would’ve been helpful.