Anybody at Ewood yesterday will be aware that the score line flattered the rovers. Bristol under Nigel Pearson rather reminded me of some early season defeats in the past which ultimately saw our conquerors promoted. Norwich City outclassed us 1-4 in the opening fixture 2016 and most had them as favourites for promotion, Sheff Utd came and played us off the park in Oct 2018 in their promotion season, Huddersfield arrived in Oct 19 and after a 2-2 draw I tipped them for promotion which they duly achieved. My only fail was in tipping Barnsley under Wagner to go up when they ultimately lost out in the play offs. If Bristol are not in the top six come May I'll be surprised.
City played as a team whereas the rovers were disjointed and looked like a collection of individuals. Hirst in his last act before making way for Jack Vale flew down the right wing and played a cracking low ball across the penalty area similar to a cross he did earlier in the match which Dack just failed to convert, I had been screaming for someone to get in the box but no one did and the opening was wasted. Good teams don’t do that do they? Similarly for City’s two opening goals I was screaming for the defenders to get back goal side of their opposite numbers, they didn’t and we were 0-2 down. Good teams don’t defend like that either do they?
Now the new look BRFC do worry me. Why don’t we start to play until after half time? We got away with it v QPR, Swansea, WBA and Blackpool but you can’t do that and expect a good result against the likes of Sheff Utd and Bristol. Even worse when we were getting torn apart down the wings JDT seemed to be unaware of the danger and unable to alter things. Travis had a mare all the match and Pickering struggled in that first half as Bristol attacked down both wings. Both were up against two for most of the time with Hedges and Brereton ambling around on the half way line. Travis gave Hedges a right old rollocking after being skinned by two attackers with Hedges looking on from afar. In the middle Wednesday nights heroes Morton and Wharton were swamped and looking like what they are, talented but very young and inexperienced. In truth Bristol could have been out of sight by HT. Credit to Kaminsky, Cater and Hyam that they weren’t. Fair enough the defence has been ravaged by one injury after another with three out of four first choice players in the treatment room rather than the training pitches.
The Rovers fans for whatever reason have been waiting for players to come in all summer with the club only really acting to top up the squad after the season has started and 7 matches have been played. Compare our transfer activity to that of Pearson’s here.
Championship: Transfer ins and outs - Summer 2022 - Sports Mole
It’s pertinent that all Bristol’s recruits were frees and signed in the close season giving the squad time to familiarise themselves with their teammates whilst JDT was still unpacking his suitcase.
Btw Check out the link above and it reveals that only two clubs in the entire Championship namely Hull and Sunderland have had more incomings than outgoings. There must be lots of players in the lower divisions out of work and wondering how to pay their bills. Agents and Football administrators should all hang their heads in shame.
Kaminsky… 7 Could do nothing about the goals and kept the Rovers in the game.
Travis… 4 Nothing Trav did either on the ball or off it came off yesterday. Not helped by an inexperienced midfield and attackers failing to track their men. Bristol’s 1st was headed on his back post which he failed to get near and he cantered back instead of sprinting as Wells notched Bristol’s second goal. A match to forget.
Carter… 6 Stood strong against Bristol but our old foe Nahki Wells at 32 new too much for him. How many goals has that bugger scored against us? Carter foolishly gave the ball away with a poorly thought out attempted pass to Pickering which could easily have cost another goal. Inexperience again. Played a horrific long ball in the last seconds as the Rovers were pressing for an equaliser to effectively end the match.
Hyam…6 Has played OK in his two matches for us. Should get better as he builds an understanding with those around him but I still expect him and Carter to be benched as soon as Wharton and Ayala return to fitness.
Pickering… 6 Struggled to contain Bristol as BBD now seems to think he is the Championships Ronaldo and fails to track back when needed. Scouts and Managers will see all these things and it may explain partly why he is still a Rovers player.
Morton… 5 Poor match yesterday as most of Bristol’s tactics were to attack down the flanks.
Wharton A… 6 Tried hard but see above re: Morton. Failed to match Wells pace for the second goal.
*Much is being made of these two lads but they were outclassed yesterday by City's No7 Scott, another 19 year old. Keep an eye on him.
Hedges… 4 Not enough effort but did provide a comical moment when he deflected the keepers save from Dack with his face onto the ground with enough force to then bounce over the goal. That is something that never happened on the pitches of old!
Hirst.. 6 Showed glimpses of what he can do but again his ‘newness’ stood out. Looks like he has plenty of pace.
Dack… 6 Always involved and does seem to be gradually getting back to the Dack of old. Who knows how the match would have gone if he’d converted his big chance from Hirst’s cross with the match at 0-0.
Brereton Diaz… 5 A lazy display accompanied by much poor control until…. He scored in the 93rd minute! Another sharp finish and another goal chalked alongside his name but too little too late. He lost possession cheaply and without a fight which began the build up for Bristol’s opening goal and later even worse, he allowed Wells to run past him and score the crucial 3rd ‘killer’ goal whilst he was standing still just ball watching.
Subs
Buckley… 6 (Dack 45) Helped to get the Rovers back on the front foot but still not catching the eye as he did last season.
Dolan… 8 (Hedges 45) Can always be relied on to put in plenty of effort. Suits the role of sub as he comes on and immediately gets defenders on the back foot. Unlucky with a howitzer of a shot well saved by Bentley but got his reward with a sharp finish from Edun’s pass to make it 2-1. Unfortunately that score lasted just two minutes before Wells made it 3-1 and preventing the Rovers from building up a head of steam. A goal plus a 93rd minute assist for BBD for his efforts.
For some reason there are whispers about Dolan not being good enough starting to gather momentum in the age old Ewood tradition of looking for a fall guy on the pitch. I hope this is snuffed out before it becomes an issue. Of course he is good enough… ask Nigel Pearson! His defenders kicked Dolan from pillar to post yesterday showing just how much of a threat he posed to them and with just about our entire attacks emanating from him in that second half hopefully most will see why.
Vale… 6 (Hirst 61) Needs to score a couple or the crowd will get at him too. Looks to be interchangeable with Hirst.
Edun 6 (Wharton 69) Immediate impact with an assist for Dolan’s goal wihin 2 minutes of coming on.
JDT… 3 Needs to improve his tactics and do his homework on upcoming opponents. Bristol had clearly done more to counter us and our tactics than we had on them. Odd cos I always thought this was a must on the continent. Surrendering ground as we do in our own half in the first 45 minutes of matches is unacceptable at any level let alone the Championship. Also failed to recognise and nullify Bristol’s tactics to attack us down the flanks. He might be better looking than Tony Mowbray but his team isn’t!
Referee Tim Robinson.. 5 One of the better Refs imo but a little too yellow card happy. Having said that why he didn’t book Atkinson for a crude challenge on Dolan I don’t understand as Bristol were turning to the dark arts to protect their advantage. I’d have given him a point more except for the free kick he awarded which led directly to their 3rd goal. BBD’s ‘offence’ being no more than a mere shoulder charge.
