-
NEXT GAME:Leicester City FC
Saturday 4th May 2024
Kick off 12.30 pm
Kingpower Stadium
Championship
Newcastle United v Rovers F.A. Cup Round Three
- Thread starter Wilpshire Blue
- Start date
Barmitzvah Boy
Global winner of the 2021 Christmas Quiz 👊🤩🤩
I thought we were very poor tonight, lost too many 50:50 balls and some dreadful passing. Newcastle were almost as bad.
I don't think we were particularly poor. I think the manager was and the competition is!
An Fa Cup tie against big club opposition used to be the day that always guaranteed a packed Ewood. No longer the case is it no matter how much the press and media (presumably at the FA's instruction) choose to whip it up as being important. So effectively BRFC lost the FA Cup tie that neither team nor manager nor owner wanted to win! Benitez has made no secret that there are far bigger concerns hanging over his club than a 4th round tie against Watford. As for BRFC it was obvious that Mowbray wanted no further part in the competition. He left out our leading scorer and put out a joke of a formation which it was obvious the players had had no practice or preparation for and as it appeared to me they had no prior knowledge of before they rocked up in the dressing room tonight. Worse still were his substitutions but more of that later.
1. Starting with an unfamiliar 3 at the back screwed us and allowed NUFC to open up a 2 goal lead. We virtually handed over the initiative. Lenihan in the middle was deserted by Bell who played too wide as if he was still left back and Nyambe who played his normal full back foraying forward role. Make no mistake this lead directly to the opening goal in the fist minute. Rabbits in headlights with no one willing to desert their post and get in front of Longstaff who was allowed to stride forward unchallenged to striking distance. Sure he was helped by a deflection but not half as much as he was helped by the rovers players.
2. His opening team and subsequent substitutions were as far as I could tell were incomprehensible.
a. Why start with Brereton on the wing? He's no winger that's for sure and anyway we had Conway and Rothwell on the sidelines. fair do's Mowbray did at least replace Brereton with natural winger Conway on 65 minutes. Anybody at this point note that the only person who loudly clapped Bererton all the way off was Mowbray himself!
This is displaying favouratism to the rest of the squad and a manager who makes certain players favourites is well down the road to losing the respect of his players.
b. Why bring Nuttall on to play alongside Graham? He is a centre forward and to then play him alongside Graham as a replacement for man in the hole (Armstrong) with Dack and Rothwell on the bench was another unfathomable switch.
So
Raya... 5 I've got used to giving him 7's of late but despite a few good stops blotted his copy book when it mattered. Hard to criticise too much given the confusion being played out in front of him. Would have been a 6 but for his assist in the mags 4th goal.
Nyambe.. 4 He obviously had no idea where he should have been playing. He was rounded way to easily for NUFC's 2nd goal whilst IN THE LEFT BACK SPOT! wtf was he doing there at all? Even the commentator thought it was Bell. Rest of the time he reverted to charging up and down the right as he is used to when playing full back. Only problem being that he wasn't supposed to be playing full back!
Lenihan... 8 Peter Jackson MoM. A good call as he stuck to his task bravely despite the pair of leg irons either side of him! Scored our second goal with a thumping header. Only downside he'd missed one 2 minutes earlier that was just as easy.
Bell ... 3 At fault for the opening goal by being guilty of committing the defender's unpardonable sin of turning his back on a player preparing to shoot. The ball deflecting off his back. Dunno what's up with this lad as he still shows class one minute and then commits amateur errors the next. His head needs work on!
Reed... 7 Struggled manfully after being cut adrift on the right wing by Mowbray's formation but overall had a decent game. I keep insisting that this lad should be partnering Travis in the middle of a 4 man midfield. Worryingly pulled up in the second half and had to limp off.
Travis... 9 My man of the match..... and I mean that in the literal sense as he was the best player of the entire 22 (plus subs) by a mile. Yesterday he was a giant for the team! Hardly ever came out of a tackle without the ball and was on hand to receive the ball from teammates under pressure throughout the 120 minutes. A month back Travis was hardly in the squad but in his last 5 matches he has arguably been MoM in each. I hesitate to say this but I interpret his exclusion as mentioned above of TM having his favourites and Lewis for one not being one of them!
Smallwood... 6 Shared the centre midfield duties with Travis and battled manfully as he always does. Unfortunately the gulf in class between what is effectively a solid League 1 player and Premiership players did show. I've no idea why he is preferred to Reed in the centre of midfield.
Armstrong ... 7 Started well in the hole supporting graham which we are told is his favourite position. Scored a lovely goal after Graham put him through on goal but what was the lack of celebration about? It's a pathetic display which has become a norm in our game! He's been rejected by Benitez and NUFC so he should have been cock a hoop. Faded later on and was replaced on 73 minutes by Joe Nuttall! Hardly like for like that was it? Especially not with Dack and Rothwell well capable of playing in that position.
Bennett... 6 Moved around again to suit Mowbray's tactical changes. Started on the left side of midfield (wing back perhaps) but looked very ill at ease in this position. Another player who imo didn't know what his role was to be. Gave the ball away late in the game but made an awesome recovery making 10 yards up to slide in with a perfect tackle.
Brereton... 4 Big lad consistently brushed off the ball and beaten in the air by much smaller players. As far as I can see(and I hope that I am wrong) this lad has nowt to offer a championship team. 7m is a complete mystery to me and carries a stench to it... I just hope he proves me wrong but my early opinion on Ben is now spreading around the supporters. He HAS to improve or we have another Kevin Davies / Corrado Grabbi on our hands.
Graham... 7 Gave as good as he got against his home town team. Missed one when I'd have expected him to score normally. Set up Armstrong for his goal with a peach of a pass.
Subs
Conway (Bererton 65 mins) 6 Tried hard but made little ground on the right wing. I feel this was to save Brereton any more embarrassment.
Nuttall (Armstrong 73 minutes) .. 5. Wrong man to do the job. Was played up top with Danny Graham and was shunted wide left so as not to get in each others way I guess. Why????? Made no sense whatsoever. To keep the balance Dack should have come on and if we wanted a wide man on the left Rothwell should have been used. (I will admit at this point to never having seen Butterworth play)
Dack (Reed 78 mins) Enforced through injury to Reed. Tried too hard to make things happen as the match swung away from us and was caught in possession time and again. Missed a sitter when clean through on goal that could have won it for us. One of those chances that we all hope falls to him before anyone else but unfortunately he fluffed his lines.
Rothwell (Smallwood 103 mins) 6. Fizzed about a bit but by that time the match was already moving away from a visibly exhausted and tiring rovers team.
Mowbray 2. Worst match that I have seen him have. Showed a disdain for the FA Cup which I don't mind too much but in doing so so obviously showed a disdain for 14000 supporters too. A ludicrous set up with 3 at the back 2 of whom hadn't a clue of what they were supposed to do. So many daft decisions and ridiculous substitutions that I feel somebody must have had a chance of winning a few bob in Pune and put him under orders.
Ref Lee Probert 5. No idea why but favoured Newcastle a little too often. After watching referees on MoTD frequently too quick in sending people off etc I have to say that I don't hanker for it.
Highlights are the first 1min 40 seconds
An Fa Cup tie against big club opposition used to be the day that always guaranteed a packed Ewood. No longer the case is it no matter how much the press and media (presumably at the FA's instruction) choose to whip it up as being important. So effectively BRFC lost the FA Cup tie that neither team nor manager nor owner wanted to win! Benitez has made no secret that there are far bigger concerns hanging over his club than a 4th round tie against Watford. As for BRFC it was obvious that Mowbray wanted no further part in the competition. He left out our leading scorer and put out a joke of a formation which it was obvious the players had had no practice or preparation for and as it appeared to me they had no prior knowledge of before they rocked up in the dressing room tonight. Worse still were his substitutions but more of that later.
1. Starting with an unfamiliar 3 at the back screwed us and allowed NUFC to open up a 2 goal lead. We virtually handed over the initiative. Lenihan in the middle was deserted by Bell who played too wide as if he was still left back and Nyambe who played his normal full back foraying forward role. Make no mistake this lead directly to the opening goal in the fist minute. Rabbits in headlights with no one willing to desert their post and get in front of Longstaff who was allowed to stride forward unchallenged to striking distance. Sure he was helped by a deflection but not half as much as he was helped by the rovers players.
2. His opening team and subsequent substitutions were as far as I could tell were incomprehensible.
a. Why start with Brereton on the wing? He's no winger that's for sure and anyway we had Conway and Rothwell on the sidelines. fair do's Mowbray did at least replace Brereton with natural winger Conway on 65 minutes. Anybody at this point note that the only person who loudly clapped Bererton all the way off was Mowbray himself!
This is displaying favouratism to the rest of the squad and a manager who makes certain players favourites is well down the road to losing the respect of his players. b. Why bring Nuttall on to play alongside Graham? He is a centre forward and to then play him alongside Graham as a replacement for man in the hole (Armstrong) with Dack and Rothwell on the bench was another unfathomable switch.
So
Raya... 5 I've got used to giving him 7's of late but despite a few good stops blotted his copy book when it mattered. Hard to criticise too much given the confusion being played out in front of him. Would have been a 6 but for his assist in the mags 4th goal.
Nyambe.. 4 He obviously had no idea where he should have been playing. He was rounded way to easily for NUFC's 2nd goal whilst IN THE LEFT BACK SPOT! wtf was he doing there at all? Even the commentator thought it was Bell. Rest of the time he reverted to charging up and down the right as he is used to when playing full back. Only problem being that he wasn't supposed to be playing full back!
Lenihan... 8 Peter Jackson MoM. A good call as he stuck to his task bravely despite the pair of leg irons either side of him! Scored our second goal with a thumping header. Only downside he'd missed one 2 minutes earlier that was just as easy.
Bell ... 3 At fault for the opening goal by being guilty of committing the defender's unpardonable sin of turning his back on a player preparing to shoot. The ball deflecting off his back. Dunno what's up with this lad as he still shows class one minute and then commits amateur errors the next. His head needs work on!
Reed... 7 Struggled manfully after being cut adrift on the right wing by Mowbray's formation but overall had a decent game. I keep insisting that this lad should be partnering Travis in the middle of a 4 man midfield. Worryingly pulled up in the second half and had to limp off.
Travis... 9 My man of the match..... and I mean that in the literal sense as he was the best player of the entire 22 (plus subs) by a mile. Yesterday he was a giant for the team! Hardly ever came out of a tackle without the ball and was on hand to receive the ball from teammates under pressure throughout the 120 minutes. A month back Travis was hardly in the squad but in his last 5 matches he has arguably been MoM in each. I hesitate to say this but I interpret his exclusion as mentioned above of TM having his favourites and Lewis for one not being one of them!
Smallwood... 6 Shared the centre midfield duties with Travis and battled manfully as he always does. Unfortunately the gulf in class between what is effectively a solid League 1 player and Premiership players did show. I've no idea why he is preferred to Reed in the centre of midfield.
Armstrong ... 7 Started well in the hole supporting graham which we are told is his favourite position. Scored a lovely goal after Graham put him through on goal but what was the lack of celebration about? It's a pathetic display which has become a norm in our game! He's been rejected by Benitez and NUFC so he should have been cock a hoop. Faded later on and was replaced on 73 minutes by Joe Nuttall!
Hardly like for like that was it? Especially not with Dack and Rothwell well capable of playing in that position. Bennett... 6 Moved around again to suit Mowbray's tactical changes. Started on the left side of midfield (wing back perhaps) but looked very ill at ease in this position. Another player who imo didn't know what his role was to be. Gave the ball away late in the game but made an awesome recovery making 10 yards up to slide in with a perfect tackle.
Brereton... 4 Big lad consistently brushed off the ball and beaten in the air by much smaller players. As far as I can see(and I hope that I am wrong) this lad has nowt to offer a championship team. 7m is a complete mystery to me and carries a stench to it... I just hope he proves me wrong but my early opinion on Ben is now spreading around the supporters. He HAS to improve or we have another Kevin Davies / Corrado Grabbi on our hands.
Graham... 7 Gave as good as he got against his home town team. Missed one when I'd have expected him to score normally. Set up Armstrong for his goal with a peach of a pass.
Subs
Conway (Bererton 65 mins) 6 Tried hard but made little ground on the right wing. I feel this was to save Brereton any more embarrassment.
Nuttall (Armstrong 73 minutes) .. 5. Wrong man to do the job. Was played up top with Danny Graham and was shunted wide left so as not to get in each others way I guess. Why????? Made no sense whatsoever. To keep the balance Dack should have come on and if we wanted a wide man on the left Rothwell should have been used. (I will admit at this point to never having seen Butterworth play)
Dack (Reed 78 mins) Enforced through injury to Reed. Tried too hard to make things happen as the match swung away from us and was caught in possession time and again. Missed a sitter when clean through on goal that could have won it for us. One of those chances that we all hope falls to him before anyone else but unfortunately he fluffed his lines.
Rothwell (Smallwood 103 mins) 6. Fizzed about a bit but by that time the match was already moving away from a visibly exhausted and tiring rovers team.
Mowbray 2. Worst match that I have seen him have. Showed a disdain for the FA Cup which I don't mind too much but in doing so so obviously showed a disdain for 14000 supporters too. A ludicrous set up with 3 at the back 2 of whom hadn't a clue of what they were supposed to do. So many daft decisions and ridiculous substitutions that I feel somebody must have had a chance of winning a few bob in Pune and put him under orders.
Ref Lee Probert 5. No idea why but favoured Newcastle a little too often. After watching referees on MoTD frequently too quick in sending people off etc I have to say that I don't hanker for it.
Highlights are the first 1min 40 seconds
khmerblue
Senior Member
well if Bereton turns out as bad as Davies i will be happy,i thought he played half decent alright i gave up after 20 mins till half time,Sutton reckoned he should have had a penalty for the shot at the Bburn end.Like you say it was a decent game and these 3 days without a beer is killing me,i feel like Alan does about TM.