Rovers v Sunderland

[1SimonGarner]

Obviously disappointed after a great start and some great football. The Burger has summed it up well so not much to add but what I would say is that maybe I'm expecting too much of A Wharton but his languid style is in danger of becoming lazy if he's not careful.

I only say it because it's obvious what potential he has and I just want him to fulfill it, especially being a Blackburn lad, but after the outstanding performance against Burnley last season, he's got nowhere near that level since and his giving away of the ball and mega laid back style of play is something that'll hold him back from making it at the very top - again if he's not careful.

I hate saying it because I hate criticizing any Rovers player, especially one I rate so highly and at just 18 he's obviously nowhere near the finished article, it's just something that has seemed to creep into his game and needs addressing in my very humble opinion.

On to Saturday and we'll bounce back at Ipswich.

COYB

 

[Drog]

To save time I've cut and pasted from the Boro thread cos it still applies........ Play all the tika taka that you want, win all the possession stats in the world but it's results that gain points and it's only points that count.

"Just a few points to add...
The Rovers should carry a govt health warning if we are to endure any more endings to a match like yesterday. "All's well that ends well" will not apply every week that's for sure. A great spectacle for a neutral but unfortunately very few in Ewood yesterday can claim to be neutrals.
Lets look at the team.
Defenders.... Brittain, Carter, Hyam, Pickering. OK enough but boy do they sometimes take ridiculous and unnecessary risks when attempting to play the ball out instead of hoofing it to go out of play towards the far corner flags! Not sure if it was Hyam or Pickering who played the ball across the edge of our area to a colleague standing in the 'D' towards the end of the match but if that's what coaching does recommends it's plumb crazy.

Defensive midfield... err Travis I suppose although for some reason JDT has him playing further up the pitch in a creative role. Now correct me if I am wrong but 'creative' and 'Travis' are not really words that belong in the same sentence.

Creative midfield... WhartonA, Hedges, Dolan, Szmodics and Gallagher.

Strikers.... None

It's plain to see why we appear a taj blunt edged at times, and also why we defend so ineptly. No way will the current philosophy see us in the top six never mind the top two come May. On the bench were the more defensively capable JRC, Garrett with two CH's in James Hill and Scott Wharton. so just 2-1 up and looking to play the match out and in response to an injury to the brittle Gally and the out of sorts Dolan on comes new boy and great white hope Telalovic (fair enough) and Moran. Now whilst this Brighton lad is a promising talent he's miles off in professionalism. Tricks flicks and showboating is for a team 4 up with 10 mins to play. I assume JDT will have reminded him of his duties in no uncertain manner after the match! Even worse Trav had to retire and be replaced by JRC on 76mins. With Adam Wharton needing to forget the press and media attention and to desperately improve the defensive side of his game (if he wants to ever play in the Prem) all of a sudden and as I mentioned in the boro thread the team turned into football's equivalent of the Keystone Cops."

Call me old fashioned if you like but given the choice I much prefer to 'win ugly' than lose gallantly. There's no way we can even contemplate play offs / promotion etc whilst we are still so shot shy and sooooo easy to score against. I know the team is very young in age terms but somewhere and somehow they need to realise that defending is just as important as attacking.

So fair play to Tony Mowbray. Credit where credit is due. How he must have enjoyed the journey home after taking 3 points off the team that so ungraciously binned him off just over 12 months ago. He'd done a damned good job for us and now he appears to have done one for Sunderland too.

 

[Drog]

Win ugly....this quote picked up from pne web site.
"Not pretty but another three points"

Or as French general Bosquettes commented during the charge of the light brigade "c'est magnifique mais ce n'est pas la guerre".

Somehow jdt's formation isn't working. Imo it's down to playing Adam Wharton in the deep playmaker position. Sure he's a precocious talent but he's weak in defence, similar comments could be aimed at Moran too. Meanwhile midfield getter and giver Travis is playing more fwd in a creative position. Talk about imbalanced!
We can all recall the brilliance of tugay in deep midfield but souness and hughes always afforded him a defensive minders colleague alongside. Savage, flitty even mokoena were there to do the dirty work and hard yards for him. Similarly with the wonderfull creative talent of eyal berkovic, he played in the hole with defensive players behind him. Tbh I never ever saw berko even attempt to make a tackle never mind win one!
So I don't know where the new lad will fit in but Wharton and Moran aren't great together and neither should play deep midfield without protection from a getter and giver. Moran in particular should have been able prevent goals 2 & 3. Instead he failed to even make a challenge. Is he going to be another like branthwaite, clarkson and Morton who is a little too young an inexperienced for the championship?

 

[Barmitzvah Boy]

I posted this in the Ipswich thread by mistake…..

That game needed Buckley to come off the bench. We need him back in January.

 

[steve w]

I posted this in the Ipswich thread by mistake…..

That game needed Buckley to come off the bench. We need him back in January.

Could not agree more
In the Travis (current) role he would open teams up for fun

 

[blueandwhitehalves]

Copped some flack last season for playing down Wharton (and giving him a season score of 6/10 on one or the threads), but I think reality is starting to bite with him now. The fan reaction to his performance against Blackpool away last season, a League 1 side in all but name, was over the top to say the least.

Granted he has talent, and Premier League clubs have noticed. But to put it into perspective, he's probably currently worth significantly less than Ash Phillips if they both had identical contact lengths (and no release clause) with Rovers.

Obviously still behind the lad, but him and everyone else needs to acknowledge there's a lot of blood, sweat and tears between what he is now and what people think he can be. Mentally he needs to toughen up, flair players still need an edge, ask Gazza or Bergkamp.

For me we lost the game last night in the midfield. Bossed it for 30 mins, then Trav got booked, Wharton started playing terribly, Szmodics looked knackered, and we couldn't get a grip back on the game after that.

On the plus side, I thought Brittain was superb. Clarke didn't get a sniff apart from taking their penalty, and skinning Carter when we gave the ball away with everyone out of position. Facing up 1-to-1, Brittain bossed him.

 

[Barmitzvah Boy]

Could not agree more
In the Travis (current) role he would open teams up for fun

Buckley was at the game on Wednesday night.

 

[steve w]

Buckley was at the game on Wednesday night.

Yea but in the stands

 

[Drog]

Copped some flack last season for playing down Wharton (and giving him a season score of 6/10 on one or the threads), but I think reality is starting to bite with him now. The fan reaction to his performance against Blackpool away last season, a League 1 side in all but name, was over the top to say the least.

Granted he has talent, and Premier League clubs have noticed. But to put it into perspective, he's probably currently worth significantly less than Ash Phillips if they both had identical contact lengths (and no release clause) with Rovers.

Obviously still behind the lad, but him and everyone else needs to acknowledge there's a lot of blood, sweat and tears between what he is now and what people think he can be. Mentally he needs to toughen up, flair players still need an edge, ask Gazza or Bergkamp.

For me we lost the game last night in the midfield. Bossed it for 30 mins, then Trav got booked, Wharton started playing terribly, Szmodics looked knackered, and we couldn't get a grip back on the game after that.

On the plus side, I thought Brittain was superb. Clarke didn't get a sniff apart from taking their penalty, and skinning Carter when we gave the ball away with everyone out of position. Facing up 1-to-1, Brittain bossed him.

That last goal should never have happened.Clarke is completely right footed yet the rovers defenders allowed him to cut in on his right foot when he should have been blocked and forced onto His left peg.