Rovers v The Ted Robins

[khmerblue]

Well its not 2 weeks since we played the inform team in this Division,now there back again disguised as Gerry Gow and Joe Royle.Bristol cream have won 5 on the bounce know way will it be 6,the return off Charlie will be welcome by me if not everyone else and a 3-1 Rovers victory.

 

[Drog]

Rodwell's admirable average got blown to smithereens on Saturday didn't it?

They say a season averages out over the winter but how come we played the top 6 clubs when they were at the top of the form guide and now the big hitters have mostly dropped to mid table we are playing the in-form teams all at once? Bristol are currently top with 5 wins out of the last 6 matches whilst 3 of the last 4 opponents in the league being in the top 7 on current form! Did the team bus run over a black cat on the way to Ipswich in August? Check it out.....
https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/blackburn-rovers/form-guide/six

Perusing that table it has to be said the Bristol weren't facing all that much quality in those matches but away wins at Stoke and Forest do stand out over the others. They aren't in a play off position fro no reason though!

With a full team I'd put us down for a win but if we have to put out the team and formation which we finished with then I'd haveto go for an away win. Doubts over the battered and bruised squad that came away from Brentford precludes me from making a prediction just yet. Graham and Dack coming off injured whilst Travis and Lenihan both appeared to finish the match limping.
If Evans was injured then I've no doubt Reed would be better in centre mid anyway but would Mowbray prefer to bring back Smallwood alongside either Bennett or Rothwell on the wing? The solution is obvious to me as both Smallwood and Travis play RH side of midfield but TM does appear to have a few favourites in the squad. Much will depend on the physios.

 

[Old Darwen Blue]

2-0 to us

 

[MCMC1875]

Rovers 2-0 Bristol City

 

[Drog]

Need to tighten things up. If Mulgrew returns, I wonder if it's worth slotting him at left-back?

Is it even worth considering a 3-5-2?

Bristol City will be pleased that you are leaving in-form Armstrong on the bench!
It would be much simpler bringing Mulgrew in if Rodwell were to step fwd into midfield to replace Evans and assuming everyone is fit keeping the rest of the team the same. The wheels only fell off when Dack and Graham went off and Mowbray replaced them with Nuttall and (stubbornly imo) Brereton. In doing so he disrupted the entire formation from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 and we reverted to the shambling performances v Preston and Wigan again.

Just pondering after the event but given the stand out Brentford danger man was Said Benrahma I wonder how we would have fared if Nuttall had replaced Graham up top and Smallwood had replaced Dack BUT with the strict instruction to tightly man mark Benrahma out of the game by shadowing him all over the pitch. Effectively whilst still leading and in the driving seat our 'worst' player could have then nullified their best player.

 

[OnlyOneTugay]

Need to tighten things up. If Mulgrew returns, I wonder if it's worth slotting him at left-back?

Is it even worth considering a 3-5-2?

I quite like that team and formation for away games , although I’d replace Smallwood with Evans and Bennett with Nyambe . Rovers have to do something to prevent the Brentford , Wigan , Preston and Bristol type capitulations

At home we have to fit Armstrong in from the start , which means sticking with 4-4-2 . I don’t like changing formations from game to game , but until TM sorts the defensive side out , it’s probably the only solution .

The team against Hull did well enough, so I’d stick with them ( Mulgrew for injured Lenihan ) for Bristol .

Am I right or wrong , did Rovers concede 3 after Evans went off against Brentford?

 

[Drog]

I see it that they conceded 4 after TM went 4-4-2 with two poor but out and out forwards. Our strongest players (arguably) being replaced by our weakest. Plus by the latter stages both Lenihan and Travis appeared to be hobbling. However NO excuses can defend the outrageously amateurish football played by some! View the video if you dare!ttttttttttt

Goal 1 ... Basic error
Elliot Bennett (who had a stinker and was exposed / skinned all afternoon) completely lost his man on the wing and didn't attempt to get back.

Goal 2. Elementary and schoolboy lack of concentration.
Absolutely dreadful marking for the free kick which allowed for short free kick and an age for Watkins to have a nice touch before advancing for a free shot on goal.

Goal 3. Suicide defending!
More X rated defending from Bennett who stood in the centre circle 10 yards in front of the two CH's and with two men outside of him. This led to another free run down the wing and a deflected cross which looped in the air and was totally spewed by David Raya who appeared to be playing a version of 'after you maud' with Rodwell. Another easy goal for Watkins who when the ball was coming down must surely have been the 3rd favourite to get his head on it. Age old GK rule... when you come out for a ball you get it NO MATTER who is in the way. Raya is a good instinctive goalkeeper.... until he has time to think when his indecision makes it all go tits up for us.

Goal 4. More schoolboy errors.
Yet another attack down the left before the ball was played into the middle and from 10 yards outside the penalty area it was 7 rovers players marshalling just 3 from Brentford! More horror story stuff as a simple triangle of passing left Maupay free on goal!

Goal 5 See '4'.
Almost a repeat as my screen shows 5 rovers players v 3 Brentford players and another simple triangle of passing left Canos free on goal with just Raya to beat.

Our defending throughout was just pathetic and even worse amateurish! I'd absolve just Bell out of the back four but there can be no excuse for the actions of the other 3 and some of the midfield who couldn't be bothered to join in with defending. Only exception being perhaps when Lenihan was injured. When TM took the team for a video review on Monday morning he must have taken the bloody paint off the walls!

 

[Drog]

Looks like it's going to be Rodwell and Mulgrew at the back on Saturday as Lenihan could be out for eight weeks.

Typical the very same week that the transfer / loan window slammed shut!

 

[khmerblue]

was he not missing for the run in last season?

 

[Steve Moss]

Rovers for the win 3-0.

 

[khmerblue]

and the RED RED Robin goes Bobbin along shot the bastard shot,that will be our forward line.

 

[Drog]

Might help with predictions. For those that like it warm, wet and windy.....
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...8i7i30j0i8i7i10i30j0i13i30j0i7i30.238We9MWwVw

I must say rain never bothered me in my playing days but I hated playing in a strong wind.


So I took a quick look back at the BBC report of our Ashton Gate capitulation in September which spoiled an otherwise admirable unbeaten start in the Championship. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45312060
Our run went west (or rather south west) that day but there is a rather spooky post match interview with Tony Mowbray.
2/9/18
Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"We missed chances in the first half that could have put the game to bed. I'm not exaggerating to say that we could have scored three or four in the first half, but it didn't happen for us.
"We lost a little bit of discipline for the third and fourth goals, but we had a lot of attacking players on the pitch trying to get back in the game. "We have to take this defeat on the chin and move on."

Move on? How exactly have we moved on Tony? I don't want to rip into January's Manager of the month but is it just my imagination or could that interview have simply been cut and pasted to fit last weeks shocking capitulation at Brentford? Worse still it might have been cut and pasted for a number of reversals this season. 2-0 up that game should really have been put to bed but to let in 5 is just unbelievable. We must be top of any table in the 4 divisions for most points lost from a winning position! Most notable being at Ipswich, Bristol, Swansea, Preston, Birmingham the horror story at Leeds and of course Brentford!
Last Septembers results were a roller coaster. After the Bristol cave in we followed up by letting a late goal by Villa chuck away another 2 points before an admirable 0-0 at Derby and an excellent 2-3 victory at Stoke BUT only after cruising at 3-0 up on 80 minutes to agonisingly crawl over the line after Stoke missed an injury time penalty!
Viewing the season so far we are beginning to look like we were under another Manager that I have quite a lot of respect for, Gary Bowyer. Always threatening the top 6 but never quite getting there. We are however having our best performances against the better teams which suggests that our problems are possibly down to motivation. However I don't recall Bowyer ever presiding over quite so many embarrassing collapses. Lack of professionalism? Carelessness? Naive Tactic? Poor coaching? I don't know what it is but running the clock down is a skill not possessed in the current rovers set up. Current talks of 'can we make the play offs' with a little more nous could have been who is being promoted with us! Whatever it is it's bloody frustrating!

 

[davebirch]

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...8i7i30j0i8i7i10i30j0i13i30j0i7i30.238We9MWwVw

I looked at that and thought, "Global warming", then I saw the au!

 

[Drog]

and the RED RED Robin goes Bobbin along shot the bastard shot,that will be our forward line.

You need to eat a big meal before you go out waggy!

 

[OnlyOneTugay]

Hard to predict a result at the best of times but Rovers coming off a 5-2 defeat , Bristol City one of the form teams and weather conditions not the best for playing football , makes it all the more difficult . I’ve seen quite a number of games end up 0-0 when played in windy conditions like we have today .

However I can’t predict anything but a Rovers win when they’re at home . A forward line of Armstrong, Dack and Graham should be too much for them - hope they’re all fit a rating to go . We owe Bristol one for what happened at Ashton Gate .

Famous Blue and White Halves 3

Robins 1

Up the Rovers