1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Jul 31, 2023 13:10:32 GMT
I am hoping that. I cannot see investors from that country (if true, only the share split appears to be an absolute fact) making any kind of financial investment predicated upon a maxed out asset that is the mem. 🤞 Maybe more cash put into players wages too. I'm thinking about the former Everton midfielder that's been training with us. As in Tom Davies who was probably on £30-50k p/w at Everton? There‘s investment and then there’s that!
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Mar 3, 2021 17:07:11 GMT
So do you disagree that the shape worked very well v Shrews (a match we dominated for 90 minutes) & that we were well on top last night until the red card? I’m not saying that JB has cracked it & found the magic formula, as results clearly need to improve, but performances have definitely improved since his arrival IMO - which will hopefully lead to improved results after a bit more training time. Not sure I buy that, we created a sackful of chances against Portsmouth and Gillingham but couldn’t finish them off and defended badly. Same story last night and against Wigan so I don’t think JB has had a miraculous effect at all. Let’s be clear, no one has said anything about ‘miracles’ after 3 points from 9. But Bartonball looking more promising than the stuff we were seeing under Tisdale. The win over Shrews was probably our most complete performance this season.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Mar 3, 2021 16:59:15 GMT
We’ve been playing a back three since we changed to that system around the 60-minute mark of the Wigan game. Both Shrews & last night was a clear 3-4-2-1 with Day/JvS in goal, Williams-Kilgour-Harries back 3, Rodman-Grant-McCormick-Leahy in midfield, and Westbrooke-Nicholson just off of Hanlan. Thought that shape worked very well on & off the ball v Shrews & had us well on top last night until the moronic red... then is it right pegs right holes?  The best from Williams and best back three pick available, get the best from rodders so deep, get the best from best Westbrook wide right and forward?   For all your praising it, it’s 3 points from 9 from hardly group of death set of fixtures.   So do you disagree that the shape worked very well v Shrews (a match we dominated for 90 minutes) & that we were well on top last night until the red card? I’m not saying that JB has cracked it & found the magic formula, as results clearly need to improve, but performances have definitely improved since his arrival IMO - which will hopefully lead to improved results after a bit more training time.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Mar 3, 2021 13:46:41 GMT
We threw that away. Stupid thing to kick the ball away by McCormick because the ref was looking for him. He was straight on anything we did and seemed to let Burton make niggly tackle after niggly tackle and only gave free kicks. It’s our own fault though, because we should have won that in the first half. I think the ref wasn’t consistent either, several of their players kicked it away and he did nothing. There you go, these things happen. All in all I thought we played well but we need to make our pressure and possession count. threw it away, or just not good enough all season to take it?     I’m not too hostile to what your man B***** is trying to do.  I said at the start of this night, however you cut a formation and 11 from this squad there are flaws. But would you argue if I said lack of consistency in formation and 11 has cost us over the season.  After home games would he line up more negatively in away 6 pointer?   For the team to start performing consistently in coming weeks IMO should stick to broadly similar formation, partnerships, duties and match ups, the more practicing on the same thing the better you get at it, rather than trying something new all the time. Joey has quite sensibly gone to his system of back four and bravely stuck to it all 3 games. B*****’s deep defensive line mitigates our lack of pace and positional naivety like how many straightforward punts have done us this season.  And he has also gone for consistency in selection and to some regard shape, though he seemed to half tuck Williams in to make a three, play rodders deep and westwood wide, and it didn’t really work well, are any of those three achieving their best like that?     but why these players for the relegation run in?  Killer and Harries, hardly the experience pair.  Nor turning to the more experienced options midfield.  No Daley?  After the rare Pompey start and the magic he showed, no Jonah? His own decisions or other people at the club in his ear?  Is it not a relegation fight more a selling stakes race card?     We’ve been playing a back three since we changed to that system around the 60-minute mark of the Wigan game. Both Shrews & last night was a clear 3-4-2-1 with Day/JvS in goal, Williams-Kilgour-Harries back 3, Rodman-Grant-McCormick-Leahy in midfield, and Westbrooke-Nicholson just off of Hanlan. Thought that shape worked very well on & off the ball v Shrews & had us well on top last night until the moronic red...
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Jan 17, 2021 9:06:09 GMT
FT 0-1.Awful and so lacking in quality.With relegation looking likely and the MEM rated 92 out of 92 for facilities,these are sad times.Our lack of goals,midfield creativity and sloppy defending are very worrying.Another defeat.Another blank goal wise and some players who clearly are either not up to it or don't care for the club in the way I do. Relegation looking likely? I’ll be stunned if we go down this season. Burton are gone (P24 Pts16), Swindon struggling big time (P22 Pts20), and Wigan (P21 Pts20) & Wimbledon (P21 Pts21) both look more likely to go down than us (P19 Pts22) as things stand. We’ve won 3 from our last 5 in the league - which far exceeds relegation form - and were missing our two best/most creative attacking players yesterday in Ozzy & Nicholson. Once those two are back & we bring in a more experienced partner for Hanlan this month, we’ll be absolutely fine.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Nov 3, 2020 18:50:47 GMT
Kilgour recalled for Baldwin and out new signing Koiki on the bench. What's happened to Liddle, Rodman Hargreaves and Barrett? 2-0 to Peterborough hope am wrong Liddle - being trained up (I imagine) Rodman - vertigo Hargreaves - unsure Barrett - fat
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Nov 2, 2020 12:01:06 GMT
Posh certainly will be free-scoring tomorrow if we bring in a diminutive playmaker for our only defensive-minded midfielder.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Nov 1, 2020 13:33:58 GMT
I was thinking this one is hard to sum up, but then read Ben’s interview and he summed it up perfectly. We started brightly, particularly Nicholson. With lead we took foot off gas, stoped doing the effective things. Awful goal to concede, shouldn’t happen. Harsh words half time, better press, tempo and territory second half. What I would add to that. Our task was harder by home side treating it as away game and not coming out to play. Maybe this was reason for too much rubbish hoof ball, but too much ineffective hoof ball there was. Our performance is chalk and cheese simply on how deep or high we can get the wingbacks up the pitch. Nicholson’s start impressed me. What was his position and role, seemed straight swap. But I totally disagree with every gas head, reporter, headline and manager who said we scored a good goal. Nicholson attacked with pace and intent, placed well with requisite power. But it was abysmal goal from Rochdale point of view. They opened like the Red Sea. They put no pressure on him. They did their (excellent) goalie no favours at all. One big negative becoming clearer all the time. We didn’t beat Burton, didn’t beat dale, lucky to get cleanie at shrews, but when we come up against likes of Ipswich, donny, hull and Peterborough we are too far away to take anything from them. Our lack of cutting edge to win the Burton and dale games is ominous for the months ahead. Agree with all of that. We don’t create anywhere near enough clear chances in open play to make any game comfortable for us, regardless of who we’re playing. If it weren’t for Hanlan’s penalties v Lincoln & Northampton, we wouldn’t have scored more than one in any of our L1 matches this season. And three of our last four goals have either been individual efforts (Nicholson yesterday) or capitalising on defensive errors (Daly v Burton & Hull). Feel sorry for Hanlan & Daly. Often feels like they’re miles away from the rest of the team & constantly feeding off scraps.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Oct 18, 2020 10:58:59 GMT
Garnerball can not be difficult to learn, Oztumer turns up and is on the pitch a couple days later. That’s because ‘Garnerball’ makes it sound like some mythical system or style of play that’s attempting to revolutionise the way the game is played. Where as in reality it’s just a team of more technically proficient players than last season trying to hoof it a bit less.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Oct 14, 2020 8:07:04 GMT
Boot is on the other foot it would seem. I’m not sure that’s true. BG says our wage bill is lower than last season’s (which you can well imagine having replaced a squad of experienced players with a squad of youngsters), and we’ve also made a profit on transfer fees - having sold JCH and only spending minimal fees on Ayunga & Hanlan. I think Appleton has just looked at us bringing in 11+ players & assumes we’ve splashed the cash, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 27, 2020 18:31:08 GMT
If I was Garner I would sack the manager! Not if it mean losing his weekly wage you wouldn't. His reputation is already shot, he won't ever work as a manager again, so he'll just stand there and allow this to continue, take the dosh and wait for the inevitable. Exactly, which is why I find it laughable that some expect BG to realise he’s out of his depth & just walk. It ain’t happening, lads. Unless Wael pulls the trigger, Garner’s going nowhere.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 27, 2020 15:25:47 GMT
We didn’t have a fit RB or RWB - Hare, Little & Rodman were all missing - so I’m guessing BG thought Kilgour could adapt to RB more easily than anyone else in the squad could adapt to RWB. alternatively 3 fit leftbacks.  1 could have adapted more easily to rb than anyone else in the squad.  Quite possibly Garner is too frit to bench killer or harries.  In theory the captain needs to cut out the errors and play well too whilst settling to new club, or get benched as well, but who seriously sees that happening no matter how long he continues to play poorly? Kelly wasn’t fit & not in the squad, Leahy can barely play LB let alone RB, and Tutonda has (presumably) never played there in his career. At least Kilgour played RB a few times under Garner last season. (Not saying it worked btw, but I get the thinking behind him trying it yesterday)
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 27, 2020 15:12:56 GMT
In fairness he was well within his right to apply for the job - and probably felt that his coaching experience at a higher level stood him in good stead to take the reigns with us. The error lies with the person/people who gave him the job, especially at a time when we were crying out for an internal appointment to keep the ship steady. Yes, he probably did think that his previous jobs meant that he was able to do this one, but performances and results over 20+ games demonstrate that he was wrong. Hindsight though, init? He clearly felt ready to give it a go and Wael & Starnes clearly agreed - despite the fact he’d have surely been amongst the least experienced of the 50+ candidates who would have applied. That’s on them IMO, not him. All he did was throw his hat in the ring, they were the ones who chose to put it on. I’m sure had he known at the time how disastrously it would all go, that application email would have stayed in drafts.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 27, 2020 13:41:26 GMT
In fairness he was well within his right to apply for the job - and probably felt that his coaching experience at a higher level stood him in good stead to take the reigns with us. The error lies with the person/people who gave him the job, especially at a time when we were crying out for an internal appointment to keep the ship steady. Like who? Maher? The owner clearly has his own vision for the club which transcends the first 3 games. Given the league position we were in (league table-wise) when Coughlan left, I thought the gig should have gone to Maher or Hargreaves, and then we could have reassessed in the summer. As it was, we threw a rookie manager into the very difficult position of trying to maintain our incredible form whilst at the same time attempting to transform the playing style. Many said they would give BG a clean slate from this summer, but everywhere you look there are Rovers fans citing his abysmal record over his 24 games in charge, not just the last 3.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 27, 2020 13:06:35 GMT
I don’t agree that BG is insulting the intelligence of the fans, I think he’s just a young manager who’s out of his depth & knows his job is on the line. He’s not the first and won’t be the last under-pressure manager to make excuses in his post-match pressers. There’s many valid football criticisms that can be justifiably thrown at BG without resorting to lazy & childish name-calling. He’s a bloke who’s doing his best and going through what must be the toughest period of his professional career. He’s just a struggling human being, not a . I would stop short of swearing, but he's certainly daft to take a job that he's obviously got no idea how to do. I wouldn't storm into CERN and try to run the place, so what on earth got into his head thinking he had the faintest idea how to manage at this level? In fairness he was well within his right to apply for the job - and probably felt that his coaching experience at a higher level stood him in good stead to take the reigns with us. The error lies with the person/people who gave him the job, especially at a time when we were crying out for an internal appointment to keep the ship steady.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 27, 2020 12:06:48 GMT
We played five at the back against Sunderland and Ipswich and it didn't look too bad, so it was odd to switch to four at the back yesterday. We didn’t have a fit RB or RWB - Hare, Little & Rodman were all missing - so I’m guessing BG thought Kilgour could adapt to RB more easily than anyone else in the squad could adapt to RWB.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 27, 2020 11:40:44 GMT
Stay classy. He may not be up to the job, but he seems like a nice bloke who’s giving his all to be a success here. It’s not working, but not sure he deserves the tasteless name-calling. I accept what you're saying, but obviously disagree. Name calling isn't the lowest form of offence. Insulting fans intelligence is worse (decisions? missed opportunities? the journey? not enough training?) and I take great offence at BG talking BS so for me name calling is fair game, class or no class. BG took the gloves off.. I don’t agree that BG is insulting the intelligence of the fans, I think he’s just a young manager who’s out of his depth & knows his job is on the line. He’s not the first and won’t be the last under-pressure manager to make excuses in his post-match pressers. There’s many valid football criticisms that can be justifiably thrown at BG without resorting to lazy & childish name-calling. He’s a bloke who’s doing his best and going through what must be the toughest period of his professional career. He’s just a struggling human being, not a .
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 26, 2020 21:34:38 GMT
I think a Xbox Championship Manager addict would have won more games than this Garner . Stay classy. He may not be up to the job, but he seems like a nice bloke who’s giving his all to be a success here. It’s not working, but not sure he deserves the tasteless name-calling.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 14, 2020 10:04:45 GMT
Nice. Although with the weakness of this formation (3/4/3) being the lack of numbers in central midfield, it’s difficult to see how we’re going to get to stage where we can keep the ball a lot better & allow our wingbacks time to get up the pitch etc. After all, teams moved away from 4/4/2 because they couldn’t retain possession well enough with only two CMs on the pitch, and that’s the situation we find ourselves in. It’s slightly strange to me that a manager who’s so keen on dominating the ball has chosen to go with 3/4/3 and not something like 4/3/3 - which is the system played by the majority of possession-based sides these days due to the numbers in midfield. 3-4-3 isn't rigid, the full backs tuck in if they need to and the Centre backs come into midfield when we have the ball, but all bar one get back if needed. That’s fair. The sides I’ve seen that use 3/4/3 most effectively always have 1 or 2 centre backs who can bring the ball into midfield and act as a third midfielder when in possession, as well as the two #10s dropping into midfield when the play is building & then taking positions higher up as the move progresses. Not sure we’ve nailed either of those areas yet, but it’s early days and hopefully those bits will come with time.
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1883
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 83
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Post by 1883 on Sept 14, 2020 7:10:56 GMT
I think we saw plan B yesterday instead of the high press game that we got caught out too many times last week. Credit to Ben for having a plan b. The team has to play with adaptability, 3-4-3 is 5-2-3 or 5-4-1 when we haven't got the ball, then 3-3-4 when we have it. But yesterday they were at home and had a lot of possession but did nothing with it for long periods. We were defending a lead from the off and had to stick to that eventuality, even if unexpected. We saw the same game, just different opinions. I might be wrong, but I am a glass half full person with Rovers. I certainly like the idea of the 3 4 3, but we haven’t seen enough of it between whistles.  In order to turn the 5 4 1 into a 3 4 3 you need to look after the ball a lot better than we have been doing, hold the ball whilst you transition the shape with Gain of more territory.  Note on the tactics board: Exhibit A, England’s performance v Denmark.  Exhibit B & C, gas v Ipswich, Gas v Sunderland.        in the 3 4 3 I see the wb providing the width, effectively sitting in space. Garners error is playing the forward 3 too wide and apart from each other.  For the ball retention there needs to be more tucking in.  Out of the three disciplines, physical, technical, mental, this is mental development in players decision making more so than management strategy.  The double whammy is, not only the forward 3 not interlinking up enough, but the wing backs are now sat too deep, so not sat in enough space further forward to be the out ball.   The magic bullet here is the team in 5 4 1 gaining possession, and then holding it long enough to reshape into the 3 4 3.  we won’t see the likes of Nicholson much hurting opponents until we master that ball retention whilst transitioning.     quod erat demonstrandum any questions?   Nice. Although with the weakness of this formation (3/4/3) being the lack of numbers in central midfield, it’s difficult to see how we’re going to get to stage where we can keep the ball a lot better & allow our wingbacks time to get up the pitch etc. After all, teams moved away from 4/4/2 because they couldn’t retain possession well enough with only two CMs on the pitch, and that’s the situation we find ourselves in. It’s slightly strange to me that a manager who’s so keen on dominating the ball has chosen to go with 3/4/3 and not something like 4/3/3 - which is the system played by the majority of possession-based sides these days due to the numbers in midfield.
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